Langer prepares for British onslaught

In addition to crafting game plans he hopes will bring Australia a World Cup and an Ashes urn in coming months, Justin Langer has revealed his men's team is devising strategies to deal with the expected provocation from media and crowds in the UK.

Now that the 12-month suspensions imposed upon former captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner have expired, focus has turned to the logistics of re-integrating the pair into the playing group for the upcoming winter in Britain.

Based on the evidence he saw when Smith and Warner briefly joined the men's ODI squad in the UAE last month, Langer does not foresee any awkwardness or animosity when the pair take the next step and return to the playing field alongside their former teammates.

He does, however, anticipate the level of external scrutiny will only increase, with selectors to meet on April 9 to decide on Australia's 15-man squad for the World Cup defence that gets underway next month.

As a result, the players and coaching staff have begun planning ways in which they might deal with the expected onslaught of derision that will likely flow from the terraces at English venues, and from the pages of Britain's notoriously vituperative press.

But in airing his abject frustration with news reports such as the recent erroneous story that appeared in Australia and was categorically refuted by members of the Australia men's team, Langer also acknowledged it is as inevitable as the Barmy Army bursting into song.

"There's going to be heightened awareness throughout the media, and that's okay," Langer told reporters in the UAE after his team completed a clean-sweep of the five-match ODI series against Pakistan.

"We know that's going to happen, and we know we'll get it through the Barmy Army.

"We'll be really well prepared for that, we'll have strategies in place.

"You've heard me say about 'careless whispers' – I mean that one about the boys (Test bowling group) going to boycott the team is absolutely ludicrous.

"Anyway … we deal with those sorts of things all the time.

"What we can deal with, and what we've been doing really well is what we're doing as a team and how we're playing our cricket and how we've behaving off the field, how we're behaving on the field.

"Otherwise you get sidetracked."

Langer also accepts the reality that heightened media and public scrutiny comes with the job description of being involved in high-profile, highly competitive international sport.

To put that external pressure in context, he noted that the environment into which Smith and Warner will return is little different to that endured by any individual in public life who must contend with the blowtorch of 24/7 news cycles and social media feeds.

"That's okay, that's the world we live at the moment," Langer said of the unrelenting media coverage.

"Imagine being (British Prime Minister) Theresa May at the moment, imagine being (US President) Donald Trump at the moment, or imagine being a teenage kid at the moment.

"We're getting accolades, and we feel like we're getting great support from so many Australians.

"They (Smith and Warner) want to play cricket. They don’t want to be politicians.

"We're building a great team and they want to play cricket.

"That's what David wants to do, that's what Steve wants to do and they're out there at the moment (in the Indian Premier League) doing what they love doing.

"They would have learned some good lessons, we've all learned some good lessons, and now they're looking forward to putting those lessons into practice."

While Australia's men's team struggled in the immediate aftermath of the ball-tampering scandal that led to Smith and Warner's suspension, winning just two of 12 ODIs and one of seven Tests, that form has turned around in recent Tests against Sri Lanka and white-ball series in India and the UAE.

Langer's belief has long been that the re-integration of the deposed pair would be made easier if they returned to a successful team, and into a tight-knit group that is confident of its path forward and not consumed by negative thoughts.

Part of the reason for Smith and Warner's brief visit to the UAE en route to their respective IPL commitments was to grant them a chance to see first-hand the dressing room culture that has developed under Langer, and understand how they can add value to that environment.

"They're obviously very talented players who know that great teams are more than just about talented players, it's about how the team gels together," Langer said.

"One thing I've learned over a long time is that that camaraderie is the glue that keeps everything together, particularly when pressure comes on.

"We've had pressure in the last twelve months, we'll definitely have pressure in the World Cup and Ashes.

"So we're really mindful when we select teams that we've got camaraderie.

"Those guys have been around a long time, they're all good mates.

"The next phase is to have them back here playing cricket together, and getting a feel for what we're doing.

"Whether it's our game plan, or whether it's our really close-knit group that we've got.

"Some of them are best mates that transcend just cricket mates.

"That's going to be really important, but you don't build that until you come back in.

"When they do, that will be their opportunity."

Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK 2019

Tour match: Australia v Australia A, Hampshire, July 23-26

First Test: August 1-5 at Edgbaston, Birmingham

Tour match: Australia v Worcester, August 7-9

Second Test: August 14-18 at Lord's, London

Third Test: August 22-26 at Headingley, Leeds

Tour match: Australia v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8 at Old Trafford, Manchester

Fifth Test: September 12-16 at The Oval, London