Justin Langer reveals sudden call to make him open batting for Australia

Sydney, April 20: Former Australia opener and current head coach Justin Langer made striking revelations that he considered hanging his boots during the 2001 edition of the Ashes.

After going through a lean patch, Langer was dropped from the playing XI for the first Test against England and that prompted him to think his time with the Aussie team was over.

Langer, who used to bat at No.3, revealed a conversation with Steve Waugh changed his mind and fortunes eventually, as the then-skipper asked him to open the batting alongside Matthew Hayden in the next match.

"Literally, the week before I opened for the first time with Haydos, I told all my family I'm getting on a plane and leaving... I'm going home," Langer said on ABC's One Plus One show.

"I couldn't make a run, I thought I'd failed... I'd never play for Australia again. I'd been dropped at the start of the series when I thought I was going to play. My wife had flown over because I was going to retire the week before.

"I was so down in the dumps ... and out of nowhere, Steve Waugh rings me and says 'you're going to open the batting tomorrow'.

"It was another great lesson. If you just hang in there, you never know what's around the corner," he added.

Langer ended up becoming one of the greatest batsmen ever to play for Australia in the longest format. He featured in 105 Tests, scored 7696 runs including 23 centuries and 30 half-centuries.