Justin Langer confident perception of Australia has changed: "Hopefully we've started to earn respect"

Ahead of the start of the white-ball tour of England, the coach believes the reputation of the team has changed since the ball-tampering affair

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It might not provoke the same evocative memories of Cape Town, South Africa, but England has played a key role in Australia's rehabilitation since the ball-tampering affair which rocked the sport.

A young squad without the disgraced Steve Smith, David Warner, injured bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins, and led by Justin Langer faced their first competitive cricket since leaving the Rainbow Nation in the summer of 2018 and were duly humiliated.

England won all five one-day internationals - which included inflicting upon Australia their biggest ever defeat in the format - and the stand-alone T20. Only a year out from the World Cup it was a staggering result.

Twelve months on and with Smith and Warner in toe the focus swelled further. English crowds were unforgivingly hostile during the World Cup and while the Aussies did beat England before the tournament and in the group stage, they fell well short in the semi-finals.

Come the Ashes, and while the soundtrack had a similar intro, the tone quickly turned thanks to Smith's majesty. Successive centuries in the first Test were followed with what many felt was an act of heroism at Lord's by returning to the crease after being floored by Jofra Archer.

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Though the urn was retained, come the end of the series Smith, who scored 774 runs across the series, was being applauded by the English faithful - a barely believable gesture given how the summer had started.

A behind-closed-doors summer means that Smith and co. will be neither taunted nor worshipped during their upcoming duels with England. But Langer believes the reputation of the team has changed seismically from 2018.

"When we came here two years ago we were at crisis point," he told the media. "We were copping it from everywhere and rightly so. The team had made a terrible error in judgment. Individually and collectively we paid the price. 

"We came here with a young team and it put hair on their chest. To come to England, to lose 5-0 that was one more little punch from mother cricket.

"We had to earn respect internationally. We had to make Australians back home proud of us. Hopefully, we've done that on and off the cricket field. We're currently ranked at No.1 in the Test and T20 rankings so we're doing a good job on the field.

"Hopefully we've started to earn respect, not just individually but as a group. We've come a long way, we have some exciting and challenging times ahead of us but hopefully, we're moving in the right direction."

While England are signing off their summer with three T20s and a trio of ODIs, Australia are playing their first competitive cricket since their series against New Zealand was pulled as the coronavirus pandemic took hold across the world.

While the tourists have spent the last week playing four intra-squad matches, England drew their T20 series with Pakistan 1-1 after defeat by five runs at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Asked about what he's expecting from an England side boosted by the return of Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer, Langer said: "Dangerous. That's what I made of them. I watched the way Eoin Morgan plays and it is exciting to watch. He just comes out and smacks it from ball one. 

"We know they've been the best one-day team in the world for a few years now so I'd say they're dangerous and we know what to expect. 

"We came here two years ago, we got smashed 5-0. We came here last year, won two out of the three games just didn't win the big one in the semi-final. 

"They're a very good team, they're well led and we know what to expect and we'll be ready for it."

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