Justin Langer backs Adam Voges as Australia’s next coach on the back of unprecedented success in State cricket

Justin Langer has backed Adam Voges as Australia’s coach-in-waiting, declaring no other candidate for the role could match the success enjoyed by the Western Australia and Perth Scorchers mentor.

When Langer took on the national job in 2018, he was succeeded as coach of the State’s cricket sides by Voges, who has overseen an unprecedented era of success across all three formats.

The Scorchers claimed their third Big Bash League title under the stewardship of Voges by beating Sydney Sixers in the final last weekend, which further enhanced his status as the best-credentialed coach on the domestic circuit.

The championship was his 10th in domestic cricket, including three Sheffield Shield wins — which came consecutively in 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 — and four One-Day Cup victories.

In both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, Voges’ sides won every title which was on offer.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald — who replaced Langer in the role in 2022 — is contracted until the end of 2027 and already figures among the country’s longest-serving coaches.

In his column for The West Australian, Langer wrote he had no doubt his former teammate Voges would be McDonald’s successor if he chooses to pursue the role when it becomes available.

“Over the last eight years he has quietly built one of the most formidable coaching resumes in Australian domestic cricket,” Langer wrote.

“In Voges, I see a success story that hasn’t been loud or flashy. It has been methodical, modern and deeply effective. He is proof that great coaching is measured not by noise, but by silverware.

“His calm authority ensures his success is built on depth, relationships, discipline and relentless standards. It makes me enormously proud to see how he has guided Western Australian cricket to the success it is enjoying.”

In November, WA Cricket announced Voges would end an eight-year stint as WA coach at the conclusion of this season in order to pursue further opportunities on the franchise circuit.

He signed a one-year extension in December to remain in charge of the Scorchers next summer and has secured also deals to coach Seattle Orcas in America’s Major League Cricket and serve as an assistant with Trent Rockets England’s The Hundred.

Shortly after his departure from the WA job was announced, Voges, 46, told The West Australian the move was not an indication his hopes of coaching an international side had dimmed.

“I hope that this experience and this path, while a different one, will continue to help my growth,” Voges said.

“Where that ultimately leads me, I’m not sure.

“I do have ambitions to coach at international level, if those opportunities do present, but at the moment this is what the focus will be and whichever role I go into just trying to do that to the best of my ability.”