Australian Test captain Pat Cummins has hit back at Justin Langer after the former coach l abelled his former players "cowards" over his controversial departure in February.
The former opening batsman took over the role in 2018 following the 'sandpaper gate' scandal that saw Darren Lehmann resign in disgrace. Captain Steve Smith and vice David Warner were also removed from their roles and suspended, along with Cameron Bancroft.
But despite overseeing a T20 World Cup win, and retaining the Ashes in England before winning them emphatically on home soil in the 2020/21 series, Langer duly resigned. His exit came amid rumours of players being unhappy with his forceful management style.
The 52-year-old this week tore into his ex-squad for allegedly leaking their complaints to the press: "Everyone was being nice to my face," the former opening batsmen told News Corp.
"But I was reading about this stuff and half of it, I swear to God and on my kids' lives, I could not believe that is what was making the papers. A lot of journalists use the word 'source'. I would say, change that word to 'coward'.
"Because what do you mean 'a source says'? They've either got an axe to grind with someone and they won't come and say it to your face, or they're just leaking stuff for their own agenda. I hate that."
Speaking to reporters Cummins, who has 199 Test wickets, was asked to respond to the comments, and pointedly said: "There's no cowards in an Australian cricket team, not ever.
In the immediate aftermath of his resignation, Langer was heavily linked to the England role, with the EBC instead opting for Brendan McCullum. The left hander, who scored 7,696 runs for his country in 105 Test matches, is yet to take up another coaching job.
But former wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin, who worked in Langer's setup, has warned that the row involving Australia's national team will escalate further : "Yes it ended messy and by the looks of it there’s still a lot more to come out," he warned.