"Cuts to the heart of humanity": Langer and Hayden on cricket and 'breaking the cardinal sin'

One is in an Australia training shirt. The other has the Pakistan Cricket Board crest on his jersey. They both have taken different journeys from when they wore the Baggy Green together more than a decade ago. Their homes are on different sides of the country, their work carries them to different parts of the world. But the bonds of friendship, born out of a shared love for cricket, are just as strong as ever for Langer and Hayden.

One of the sub-plots of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 is that Hayden and Langer, once Australia’s much-feared opening pair and still the fourth-best partnership of all time in Tests, find their paths crossing in the UAE. Langer has been in charge of Australia for the past few years while Hayden has been a part of the Pakistan squad as a batting consultant for the tournament. And the two teams will face each other in the semi-final.

Despite the temporary rivalry, the meeting, at a time of bio-bubbles, allowed “JL” and “Haydos” to catch up and share with the ICC their thoughts on their friendship and trace how the game has changed from their days.

“The great thing about cricket is, one, it gives us amazing memories, [and two,] it also gives us great friendships,” said Langer. “So whether Haydos is wearing a Pakistan shirt – he could wear any shirt – but we’re always going to be friends.”

“Whether he’s got a CA (Cricket Australia) shirt on, I’ve got a PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) shirt on, it’s irrelevant,” added Hayden, “because the cricket conversation cuts to the heart of humanity and that is the love for the game.”

For Hayden, this Pakistan stint has reinforced the belief that cricket is about a brotherhood that goes beyond runs and wickets and results. His cricket conversations in the Pakistan dressing room, for instance, have taken place despite language and cultural barriers. A devout Christian, he has treasured the opportunity to learn about Islam, and the “sense of spirituality” shared by the Pakistan players. Mohammad Rizwan, the opener and wicketkeeper, presented him an English translation of the Quran. Over tea, they spoke of their faiths and how they’re similar or different.

“That’s such a cool connection,” he gushed. “They’re conversations that you’ll never forget. Cricket and innings and World Cups [are] so important. But ultimately, the connection to each other as cricketers and our countries is a highlight [of the World Cup].”

It is this connection that the Langer-Hayden duo too has carried through the years. The pair was involved in a partnership in 122 Test innings for Australia, first as a second-wicket stand before dominating when opening the innings. They put up 6081 runs together, averaging 51.53 with 14 century stands.

“I was the tough one,” said Langer, half-jokingly, remembering how he used to take the first ball during their playing days. “We were very closely bonded as mates, but we also complemented each other the way we played on the field. Whereas Haydos, tall, would smack them down the middle of the ground, I’d go square of the wicket. I was always jealous that Haydos could hit down the ground, he was jealous I could [get the ball] off down there [to point].”

Hayden made such a good coach, he said, because of his ability to simplify all his knowledge and experience – “bring back the simple messages and gold nuggets”.

Hayden, meanwhile, was all praise for his former team-mate’s “incredible character”. “I love JL, what he stands for, for his fighting spirit, his general character and the way he presents himself in any situation,” he said.

According to Hayden, Langer was, like their other teammate Ricky Ponting, a bit of a “cricket nuffie”, while he himself had interests outside of cricket such as cooking and surfing. But that passion made Langer a good coach.

“The human body doesn’t work without one key element, and that’s a heart. And he’s got a big one, for such a small chap,” Hayden said. “He represents the firmness of heart, that muscle inside the changeroom, the muscle inside those one-on-one conversations. That is vital.

“His work ethic is obvious. Not too many players have worked as hard as JL from a performance point of view within the game. But I also know how hard he works, how committed he is to his boys and how deeply he tries to connect with these boys.”

Langer’s intense coaching style has come in for criticism in the media in recent months, but Hayden backed his former partner. Langer, he explained, was someone players saw and thought, “he’s sort of like my dad”. And just like a father-son relationship can be turbulent, so too could this coach-player relationship.

“The landscape of cricket is like dancing away on the top of a volcano,’ he said in a burst of philosophy. “It can erupt at times, it can spill over at times, it can be hot as hell and all of a sudden start to cool down.”

While Langer got limited opportunities in white-ball cricket in a star-studded line-up, Hayden was an ODI force for Australia too. And now, they are “excited” by how the game has progressed in the T20 era.

“T20 cricket is a 120-ball sprint. And each ball is significant,” said Hayden, even as Langer jumped in: “Our mantra was ‘wear them down, wear them down’, and you get rewarded afterwards. But in T20 cricket, there’s no wearing down period. You are just go, you are straight in.”

“Where it’s really evolved though, is players manage risk so quickly,” said Hayden. “On a ball-by-ball basis, and they just get used to dealing with that. That thought, which is really hard for opening batsmen, that ‘I’m going to give a bowler a chance to get me out’ – that is the cardinal sin of batting, because you want to bat the whole time. But players now recognise that that’s not the most significant thing. Run rates come into play, and managing your assets, that’s the key for the modern-day opening batsman.”

"For the bowlers, the priority in T20 cricket is to figure out a way to get rid of the top three inside the Powerplay and “get some fear” in the batters, explained Langer. In an age of match-ups and analytics, the thing that set teams apart was an ability to target not the weakest link in the bowling, but the strongest. England, he said, was especially good at this.

“People talk about playing ‘fearless’ cricket, and I go ‘what does that actually mean?’ But England have shown us. The great teams will put the pressure back on the opposition regardless of their name or their skill, and that takes courage and great skill. And that’s something I’m excited about.”