Justin Langer is the Australian coach currently appointed in place of Darren Lehman who was the coach when the ball-tampering scandal of 2018 took place. He feels that Australia regained the respect and faith of their fans by playing well.
In one of Australian cricket’s most shameful episodes, the trio of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were suspended for almost 1 year for their involvement in a plot to tamper with the ball in a test match against South Africa in Cape Town. They were found trying to rough up one side of the ball with sandpaper.
Justin Langer Says Australian Cricketers Had To Earn Back Respect
Justin Langer came in as coach after that scandal with Australia being at the receiving end and then had to motivate them after their 5-0 whitewash at the hands of England in an ODI series and their loss against South Africa in that debatable series which host South Africa won 3-1.
However, both of the Australian duos including Steve Smith and David Warner are back in England for a white-ball tour two years later as the No. 1-ranked team in test and Twenty20 cricket.
“The team had made a terrible judgment in South Africa and, individually and collectively, we paid the price,” Langer said in a video call from the team’s training base in Southampton.
“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 recalled Steve Smith was applauded off the field in the final Ashes test last year. The former Australia opener said he regards the incident as one of the highlights in his coaching career and a signal that the Australians were back on their way to redemption.
Justin Langer Concerned About One Day Cricket Team Selection But Excited At Marnus Labuschagne’s Future Prospect
“We have worked really hard over this COVID period on how we can improve our one-day cricket,” Langer said.
“We are really clear on how we want to pick our test team. We are really clear on our T20 makeup. But we probably haven’t been as clear for the last three or four years (on the ODI game).”
One player who is on the verge to break into the established T20 lineup is Marnus Labuschagne but has yet to play in the format at international level having entered Test team in an unbelievable fashion as the first concussion substitute in last year’s Ashes and then into the ODI team in January.
“What a young player. Who could have guessed his acceleration in improvement and that’s what we love to see,” Langer said.”Whether Marnus plays in this series, or the first game on Friday, time will tell. We haven’t decided.”
Marnus Labuschagne played in only 14 Tests and 7 ODIs but has already notched up 4 Test and 1 ODI century besides averaging a staggering 63.43 and 50.83 respectively in Tests and ODIs.