The Australian dressing room squabbles that forced Cricket Australia (CA) to hold a fire-fighting session just over two months ago appear to be a thing of the past, with Aaron Finch’s side emerging stronger from the ordeal to win the ICC T20 World Cup here, defeating Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand in the final.

When Australian coach Justin Langer was under hotel quarantine in Adelaide with the Australian team, he was caught in the thick of a storm. Tensions between the 46-year-old Langer and the cricketers had risen, and CA had to respond quickly, having an emergency Zoom conference in August with CA chairman Earl Eddings, CEO Hockley, Test captain Tim Paine, limited-overs captain Aaron Finch, and Pat Cummins.

Advertisement

After returning from Australia’s 4-1 T20I series losses to the West Indies and Bangladesh, Langer faced a barrage of questions. Apart from an apparent heated argument with a CA official in Dhaka, there were rumours of unhappiness between him and the players.

However, Finch said during the post-match press conference on Sunday that the vibe around the group had been unbelievable, indicating the patch-up between the players and coach Langer was complete.

Asked about the events that unfolded two months back, Finch said, “Yeah, he’s (Langer) been great. The vibe around the group has been unbelievable. Just how well everyone is getting along as I said earlier, there’s a lot of time spent in each other’s rooms and the team room and just chilling out at lunches, dinners and breakfast and everything has had all together. Yeah, I think that just adds to the environment.

“So yeah, JL (Justin Langer) has played a part in that as well, and yeah, that’s a great reward for him as well as the players,” added Finch.

When asked how he dealt with the “tension and awkwardness” in the camp before the T20 World Cup, the Australian limited-overs captain noted that honest chats helped clear up misconceptions.

“There hasn’t been any tension or discomfort. It’s all about having honest dialogues and being completely open and honest. The only time there is awkwardness is when things are going on behind the scenes and you’re trying to figure things out or pull the rug out from under someone’s feet. There isn’t any of that at all. It’s been a fantastic campaign thus far.”

(With IANS inputs)