'Be a good bloke and score runs' – Langer's message for batsmen after UAE loss

Langer, the head coach, said his team had come into the two-Test series "really upbeat", and believing they were "easily matched with Pakistan in terms of ages and games played". However, a crushing 373-run loss in the second Test, especially after a heroic escape in the first in Dubai and having the opposition on the ropes in their first innings in Abu Dhabi, left him feeling "huge disappointment" and urging the batsmen to improve their technique.

At lunch on day one, Australia had Pakistan at 77/5. Yet, the Asian side finished on 282, courtesy a 147-run stand between captain Sarfraz Ahmed and debutant Fakhar Zaman.

"We knew we had them on the ropes and we had to capitalise, particularly [against] a team like this, particularly [against] Mohammad Abbas who bowled at the end like this (he finished with 10 wickets in the match) and Yasir Shah," said Langer.

"We knew there was spin in the wicket ... My instincts told me it is going to be hard to bat on and it proved to be this way."

With Abbas picking up 10/95 – the first instance of a Pakistani fast bowler picking up a 10-wicket-haul in Tests since Mohammad Asif's 11/71 against Sri Lanka in 2006 – Australia managed just 145 and 164. And given that they had lost 10/60 in the first innings of the first Test, Langer called out the batsmen's flawed techniques as one of the reasons for the collapses.

"This week, a number of states in Sheffield Shield cricket also have had big batting collapses as well. I have been in the state system and have watched it for a long time and I am actually quite intrigued about [technique]," the coach said, before sharing an interesting anecdote.

"Lindsay Stevens, the golfer, I remember having dinner with him. I remember saying it's all mental, it's all about the mental aspects of the game.

"But [he] told me, 'I'd rather have a guy with a good technique who is a bit softer mentally than a guy who's really mentally tough with a really bad technique.

"'If you have got a good technique, you hit most balls in the middle of the fairway and over time you develop some confidence and concentration and get mentally tough. But if you have a bad technique and you're hitting the ball behind the trees and into the rough, it doesn't matter how mentally tough you are, you're not going to be able to hit it into the hole that often.' I think it's the same with cricket."

"I was born in Australian cricket, where we did a lot of bowling machine work and talked a lot about technique," Langer went on. "Technique to me is about footwork patterns and playing when it's full and playing back when it's back (short). These are just basic things, and if you talk about the great Australian players, they moved their feet like boxers.

"And then from there you have the skill of run-scoring ability. So the technique is really important. I think now there's a lot of talk that because of white-ball cricket there are a lot of wide stances and you just stand and deliver. Well, that's okay.

"But even in T20 cricket or one-day cricket, and most certainly in first-class cricket or Test cricket, when the ball starts moving around, if you don't move your feet then you're going to come unstuck. I think all of us in Australian cricket will have to work [on that]."

Following their batting woes, among those batsmen under pressure to score runs are the Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell, who average 8.8 and 10.4 respectively in their last 10 innings. While Langer did send out a warning to the poor performers, he insisted that he is one for rewarding performances, and not just punishing someone for having the least runs.

"We can't sugarcoat it any longer. If I am a young batsman in Australia, it's a pretty exciting time. If you've worked really hard on your basic game and you have learned how to make runs, then there'll be huge opportunities in the Australian cricket team," he said.

"Shaun has really had a poor series, and he knows that. Then you have got to do the balancing act right as a selector, and on merit, he has to play the one-dayers. In his last five one-day internationals for Australia he's scored two hundreds. So you have got to be fair and reward people for performance," he added.

If Shaun Marsh plays the limited-overs matches, he may not get to play Sheffield Shield cricket and improve his Test form. Langer, however, felt runs, whatever the format, were the "currency of value".

"Whether you're making them in T20 cricket or one-day cricket or Sheffield Shield cricket or Test cricket, the only currency of value are runs. So there's a balancing act there and we certainly have to manage our batsmen. And the message has been since day one that you've got to be a good bloke and you've got to score runs."