Marnus Labuschagne disappearing act adds to Justin Langer furore

If you thought Marnus Labuschagne had an exaggerated leave when facing quality fast bowling, wait until see him ducking and weaving tough questions.

The Australian top order batsman pulled out - or was asked to pull out – of a planned press conference to be held by Queensland Cricket on Monday for fear of it becoming a Justin Langer-athon.

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Pathetic but predictable.

A few days ago, Labuschagne jumped on a Twitter Q and A with fans and was tossed up a series of half trackers.

While he happily answered questions on his favourite chips (salt and vinegar), his opinion on Vegemite (he likes it), whether he was a morning or night person (morning) and favourite tea (Yorkshire or Rooibos), he let anything Langer-related ease through to the keeper.

How long do those in charge of cricket in this country think you can keep running and hiding from the media?

The Langer issue will not go away until the current players have their say on why they no longer wanted him as coach.

To be fair, that should be Pat Cummins' responsibility as Test captain, more so than the likes of Labuschagne.

Cricket Australia should strongly encourage (i.e. force) Cummins – and white ball captain Aaron Finch for that matter - to front the media and explain the players' role in this mess.

They will be peppered with questions and hammered for some of their responses, but at least they would have had their say and we'd all be done with it.

Aussie cricketers should face tough questions over Justin Langer

Press conferences are not just for feelgood moments after a Test win or when you've got something to flog or a cause to promote.

Sometimes you've got to confront the tough questions.

At the moment, Team Langer has the players 8-68 in the PR stakes.

Former team-mates are lining-up to back their mate – with loose cannon Mitchell Johnson spearheading the charge - and attacking those they see responsible for his demise.

No-one is talking on the players' behalf and no-one is talking about the game itself.

Australia plays Sri Lanka in a five-game T20 series starting Friday and the Sheffield Shield/Marsh Cup season is about to resume, but you wouldn’t know.

The players owe it to the millions of Australian cricket fans to explain their issues with Langer, take the blows, and move on.

There is a good story to be told and much of it will make sense to outsiders - if only the gags were removed.

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