Justin Langer Sees Respect Developing Amongst People After Ball-Tampering Saga

Former Australian opening batsman Justin Langer stepped into the position of head coach of the national team after it went through their darkest phase. The vice-captain David Warner led down the nation by deciding to tamper the ball through teammate Cameron Bancroft during the Test tour of South Africa in March 2018 while captain Steve Smith did not restrict it. More than two years after the scandal, Justin Langer sees respect developing amongst people.

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Since Justin Langer has taken over, Australia’s performances have improved drastically while their on-field behaviour has seen an upgradation too. During Langer’s first assignment as a coach, the men in yellow suffered a 0-5 battering in ODIs in England while losing the T20 and Tests series to Pakistan in the UAE as well.

Australia failed to win at home against India and South Africa as well. However, they turned it a few months later by reaching the World Cup semis and retaining the Ashes urn in England.

Two years after sustaining a disastrous white-ball tour of England, Australia has returned with a full-strength team and clarity of mind to face them in three ODIs and as many T20Is. Justin Langer recollected their terrible judgement made in South Africa as the entire team paid its price alongside a rookie team losing 0-5 in ODIs in 2018. The Western Australian reckoned that they had to earn back their respect, which they have on and off the field.

“The team had made a terrible judgment in South Africa and, individually and collectively, we paid the price. We came here with a very young team because of the circumstances and by gosh it put hairs on their chest. Come to England, young players, lose 5-0.

“It was that one last punch from Mother Cricket, saying, ‘You guys made a mistake and we’ll make sure you guys remember it. But I think where we have come from two years ago, we had to earn respect back internationally. We had to make Australians back home proud of us and hopefully we’ve done that, on and off the cricket field,” Justin Langer said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

We are going to make a few little changes to how we are going to select teams: Justin Langer

Despite the presence of Steve Smith, David Warner, and the other stalwarts, Australia’s form in ODIs have been indifferent. While they reached the knockout stage of the 2019 World Cup, they suffered heavy losses in India and South Africa this year.

The 105-Test veteran addressed that by saying they have worked on their strategy in ODIs. Langer underlined they are going to trigger changes based on picking teams to earn fruitful outcomes, keeping an eye to the 2023 World Cup. He added that there remain ambiguities in their ODI selection plan as compared to Tests and T20Is.

“We have worked really hard over this COVID period on how we can improve our one-day cricket. We are going to make a few little changes to how we are going to select teams and hopefully that’ll give us some good outcomes not just in the short-term but leading to the World Cup in three years’ time,” he added.

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