The sudden and untimely departure of Justin Langer as the senior coach of Australian men’s cricket is an absolute travesty. In my opinion it is testament to the very poor administrative and management structure of the Australian Cricket Board.

We will never fully know why the board procrastinated for so long in offering what apparently was a very mediocre contract extension to Mr Langer.

What seems to have been conveniently overlooked was the way in which Justin Langer took Australian men’s cricket from a very dark place and resurrected it in terms of both status and winning glory.

It would appear that the coach is a victim of the sin of insisting on high standards of behaviour and conformity to a coaching ethic designed (and proven) to bring out the best in the team.

Justin Langer is the fourth coach (after Nikki Arthur, John Buchanan, and Darren Lemon,) to fall victim to the caprice of players, the ingratitude of the Board, or both.

It will be a miracle if the team is able to continue high-level performance. A dip in the level and degree of future success will not be surprising.