Australia's evolution under Justin Langer continues as painful memories surface

As far as meaningless white-ball series are concerned, Australia’s 2018 trip to England lives long in the memory. The first time the national side convened since the sandpaper fiasco four months earlier, they were duly annihilated by the world’s top-ranked ODI team – whitewashed five-nil, coughing up a world-record 481 in Nottingham, and then hammered in the sole T20. But more significant than the results was the fact that it was Justin Langer’s first series in charge.

During the early days of lockdown this year, that visit was documented in detail in the first episode of the documentary, The Test, which served to reinforce what a rabble Australia were at that juncture. In those early weeks, Langer became a punchline too, highlighted in a press conference when he explained how he enjoyed sledging his daughter when playing Uno.

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But as a moment in time, it now serves as a useful reference point in noting just how much this team has evolved under Langer. “When we came here two years ago we were at crisis point,” he said ahead of Australia’s six-game run against England, beginning on Friday [Saturday morning AEST] with the first of three T20s. “We came here with a very young team. My gosh, it put hair on their chests to lose 5-0. And probably one more little punch from Mother Cricket.”

On the whole, this squad of 21 are anything but inexperienced. Sure, the scars of that terrible time remain, but the protagonists have moved on, and the selection decisions Langer has to make now are those that every coach relishes. Take the warm-up games played in Derby and Southampton, which have seen Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis return in style, then Marnus Labuschagne crash a 51-ball century to close out the preparation.

In the case of Labuschagne, at age 26 he might have grown up with T20 but until now has played little of it at the top level and never for his country. However, after combining with Alex Carey in a stand of 181 – the wicketkeeper making 107 – the temptation is there, just as it was last year when the relentless right-hander forced his way into the Ashes squad on the back of county runs before sneaking into the team as a concussion substitute. By the end of the summer, he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year, upon arriving home he hit four Test tons and as a cherry on top, in six ODI innings he added another hundred and two fifties.

“It was classic to watch,” Langer said of Labuschagne’s performance. “He was hitting Pat Cummins, the world’s best, over point for six. Who could have guessed his acceleration in improvement? That’s what we love. We’ve had a pretty settled T20 side over the last 12 months or so and all we can ask for is that guys bang hard, so they are putting pressure on the guys in there. We’ve based our success in Australian cricket on hardcore competition for places, [and] I get the sense we are starting to build to that. That’s a positive. Where Marnus’s opportunity comes, time will tell, but he is doing everything.”

Improving Labuschagne’s prospects is that he won’t get many opportunities to refine his T20 game in the Big Bash because of Test commitments – a point of Channel Seven has angrily made to Cricket Australia in their public spat. Langer’s perspective on that: he wants a solution underpinned by his players returning to domestic ranks whenever possible. “Be absolutely assured we want our best players playing as much cricket on the TV as possible because that is a win-win,” he said, before adding that partnerships are made with loyalty and loyalty through honesty. It would not be a Langer press conference without a lesson.

To an extent, the fact that this series is being played in a biosecure environment won’t be too different to what many of these Australian cricketers are conditioned to, especially in India where the ground-to-hotel grind is part of everyday touring life. However, the difference this time around is that for 11 of this squad, they go from this bubble to the IPL bubble back to the home bubbles. After a period at home with family, this is a lot of isolation without them. Langer, thrilled with how his team have been hosted so far, is mindful that this needs to be carefully monitored, consulting Michael Vaughan about the experience before arriving.

But do not expect that to change the approach of the man in charge – it is hard to imagine that his intense and quirky disposition could shift even if he wanted it to. But what is different, as Langer repeated time and again in 2018, is that the Australian team are respected once more. “One of the highlights of my career was when Steve Smith walked off in the last Test of last year and got a standing ovation,” he said. “From the hostilities we received from when we first arrived, to that moment, hopefully, we’ve started to earn respect back. Not just individually but as a group. We’ve come a long way.”