Langer's pre-ashes dossier in the Telegraph

[pasag]

True; but a dick move also by JL for kidding himself that there was no risk of it being leaked. Eg by Shane Watson phoning a friend for an explanation of the word "feral".

Really sorry that this has happened, (a) because the contents of the memo make for uncomfortable reading for any England fan (even though what he said was overstated, it certainly has elements of hurtful truth), and (b) because JL has been undertaking a successful charm offensive in England in the last couple of years, which might now be regarded as a shade 2-faced. I suspect that in reality he was attempting to give the Aussie players a bit of a confidence boost more than anything else, but it reads awfully in the cold light of day.

I wonder whether he'll pick up the phone to Anderson to explain himself, and if so, what he'll say?

Yeah, was a bit naive, but it's just not something that would come to your head at the time of writing, you'd imagine. Especially with little precedence of it from this side. On the plus side, his stock as a cricket analyst couldn't be doing too badly at the moment.

[zaremba]

Well he was aware when he wrote it that it was likely to be circulated to the entire Australian squad and presumably some at least of the backroom staff. Therefore security couldn't be guaranteed. He ought to have realised that it was dangerous and he should have at least chosen his words (and indeed spelled them) a little more carefully in case it got a wider readership.

You're spot-on about his pundit career, it won't have hurt that. Nor will it hurt his reputation in the long run in any way. All that he's harmed, in the short term, is the stock of goodwill that he's built up in England in recent years by being quite a positive commentator on English cricket.

[sledger]

Yeah, was a bit naive, but it's just not something that would come to your head at the time of writing, you'd imagine. Especially with little precedence of it from this side. On the plus side, his stock as a cricket analyst couldn't be doing too badly at the moment.

Don't see why not, when you are doing anything in a high profile professional context, which this unquestionably was, you should do it professionally, even if you do believe it will only be seen by one person. This sort of thing would not be acceptable in a normal work place, so I don't see why it should be any moreso here. That said I do like the guy, and everyone makes mistakes, but this is a pretty poor one to make.

[pasag]

I think after so many years in the side he felt secure that what's said in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room and may not have realised that the Australian team may have changed quite a bit in the two years he's been out. As I said, naive, but understandable.

[Top_Cat]

I find this pretty tame, to be honest; Anderson is a bit of a pussy and Ravi/Prior have big egos which you can manipulate. Oooooo, burrrrrrrn.

[zaremba]

I find this pretty tame, to be honest; Anderson is a bit of a pussy and Ravi/Prior have big egos which you can manipulate. Oooooo, burrrrrrrn.

Yeah that's maybe the approach Langer should have taken. Instead he told cricinfo that he was "shattered and really upset" by the leak. Pussy.

[Top_Cat]

Yeah that's maybe the approach Langer should have taken. Instead he told cricinfo that he was "shattered and really upset" by the leak. Pussy.

Exactly what I'd be thinking if I was bowling to JL in his next match, especially if I was one of the blokes in the dossier. I doubt we'll see Jimmy huddled in the corner of his shower in tears screaming "I AM NOT A PUSSY!" JL should have just said "Yeah, so what? Prove me wrong."

Let this be a lesson in netiquette for JL; never, ever say anything in an email you wouldn't be comfortable with sharing publicly.

The article above is hilarious; haven't seen that much arse-covering since Bill Clinton walked into a prom.

NAFTA.

[slippyslip]

Today I'm going to see if anywhere in Australia sells Murray Mints.

[andyc]

Well he was aware when he wrote it that it was likely to be circulated to the entire Australian squad and presumably some at least of the backroom staff. Therefore security couldn't be guaranteed. He ought to have realised that it was dangerous and he should have at least chosen his words (and indeed spelled them) a little more carefully in case it got a wider readership.

I don't think it was that silly for him to think it would remain secret. In the article linked to in the first post, Michael Vaughan said he had the same kind of thing from someone obviously close to the Australians, and that stayed a secret.

[sledger]

I don't think it was that silly for him to think it would remain secret. In the article linked to in the first post, Michael Vaughan said he had the same kind of thing from someone obviously close to the Australians, and that stayed a secret.

Yeah, i'm sure this kind of thing does go on a fair bit, but it's naive to think that just because you've gotten away with something for X amount of times you will not eventually get caught.

[pasag]

Wonder who the Aussie was? I remember there was some talk of it at the time if I'm not mistaken. Could just be Cooley, though.

[howardj]

Could be any number of them wanting to get back at JL for being so annoyingly patriotic and obsequious down the years. He always struck me as a little too keen to show how much he loved his Baggygreen. Have long suspected that his ultimate plan is to succeed Nugget Rees.

[Top_Cat]

Could be any number of them wanting to get back at JL for being so annoyingly patriotic and obsequious down the years. He always struck me as a little too keen to show how much he loved his Baggygreen. Have long suspected that his ultimate plan is to succeed Nugget Rees.

How dare you insult Nugget like that.

[howardj]

I'd watch my back if I was Nuggett.

[Son Of Coco]

I think the reaction from some of the English about this is slightly amusing (as is Langer's re: being diappointed it was leaked). I don't think Langer's too far off the mark with a lot of what he says. He's played against these guys for a long time and would be aware of their strengths and weaknesses. And his assessment of the English approach, while a generalisation, is fairly accurate too in my opinion. It's been said for years by Australian cricketers and from my experience playing cricket there is ingrained from the lower levels up. There are obvious exceptions through the years, Botham and Flintoff being a couple of them.

As for what he said about Anderson, can't see what the fuss is about re: the words he used. However he phrased it the insinuation is the same. Anderson can prove him wrong quite easily and people are welcome to disagree.