'Felt drunk all the time': Justin Langer's alarming health revelation
Australian men’s cricket head coach Justin Langer has opened up about a series of health struggles that have plagued his tenure with the team over the last few years.
Langer told The Sun a hidden battle with vertigo and migraines almost led him to walk away from the top job.
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Having initially considered to be an onset of dizziness and other pain to be an ear tumour, which he said affected his father, Langer has since undertaken a range of treatments, including regular physiotherapy, to combat the illnesses.
The 50-year-old said the problems began during the 2019 Cricket World Cup in England.
“It was really weird. It literally just came on,” he said.
“We’re in England for the World Cup and one day I wake up and I describe it as like in Star Wars, the light sabres when they start hitting each other.
“It was a constant in my left ear. It was so bizarre and I’m not sure how it started.”
Langer would go on to be diagnosed with vertigo and tinnitus, as well as suffering from hearing problems and migraines.
Saying when things were at their worst it was as though he was ‘drunk all the time’, Langer added things had improved substantially since the problem was correctly identified.
“For about 10 months, it literally felt like I was seasick and drunk the whole time,” he said.
“I got to a point where I was feeling so unwell and not having the answers.
“I wasn’t sure that I would keep going in my job because it was just so stressful.”
Cummins defends rest ahead of Test battle
Star quick Pat Cummins has defended his decision to rest from numerous white-ball games for Australia, arguing his preparation for the four-Test battle against India has been perfect.
The world's No.1 Test ranked bowler sat out Australia's dead-rubber ODI and the entire three-match Twenty20 series against India.
The move drew criticism from Australian legend Shane Warne, who questioned why Cummins would rest two matches into the international summer.
But Cummins said he and the Australia hierarchy agreed it would be the best thing for him due to the challenges of long stints in COVID-safe bubbles.
The 27-year-old played in the Indian Premier League, arriving in Dubai immediately following a white-ball series in England in September.
Cummins had barely got out of quarantine after travelling back from the IPL before he was bowling to Virat Kohli in an ODI at the SCG.
"We've said for months that there's going to be times where players may need a couple of days or a couple of games off, especially our three-format players," Cummins said.
"It was planned before the series and no doubt you'll see that (with many players) over the next however long.
Every season there's always a few games that players might rest from ... it's nothing new and been done plenty of times before.
"I had a good balance between downtime and rest (back in Sydney) ... but still training and I had a couple of good hit-outs to build some strength up preparing for this pretty long stint coming up.
"If you could pick out the perfect preparation, it was pretty close to it given all the circumstances."
With AAP/Oliver Caffrey
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