If defeat by South Africa brought Australia down to earth then their coach, Justin Langer, appears keen they remain there, having sat his players down for some barefoot storytelling before their World Cup semi-final.

The blockbuster with England at Edgbaston on Thursday will be the seventh time Australia have vied for a place in a men’s World Cup final and having progressed each time – including the famous tie with South Africa here in 1999 – it is well-charted territory for cricketers in canary yellow.

Nevertheless, Langer was keen the current generation – bundled into the supposedly trickier second semi-final by a 10-run defeat to Faf du Plessis and co at Old Trafford on Saturday – went the extra mile in familiarising themselves with their surroundings in Birmingham.

Before nets on Monday Langer ordered the squad and coaching staff to whip off their shoes and socks for a spot of “earthing” on the outfield – a practice that the Australian website Barefoot Healing claims will help to “normalise the body’s biological rhythms”.

After a lap of the boundary, they sat in a circle to share stories about their World Cup dreams, something Peter Handscomb, their newly arrived middle-order batsman, fancied will benefit them.

“It was nice,” said Handscomb, who could make his first World Cup appearance in place of Usman Khawaja, who has a hamstring injury. “You get a feel of the grass on your feet, a bit of grounding, the positive and negative energy flowing through and coming out of the earth.

“It was just an open and honest conversation and it was great that some of the guys poured their heart out there about what it meant to get to the semi-final.”

Earthing is claimed to “accelerate recovery from intense athletic activity” but whether it helps Marcus Stoinis, the all-rounder whose side strain flared up against South Africa, remains to be seen. Mitchell Marsh, who like Handscomb has been in the country on Australia’s A tour, is on standby.

Handscomb was actually the replacement for Shaun Marsh following the latter’s broken arm last week, with Australia yet to officially swap out Khawaja. The in-form Matthew Wade, among those feeling the grass between his toes, could also step up when the medical staff make their final decisions on Tuesday.

“Each to their own,” replied a slightly bemused Joe Root when told of Australia’s barefoot session. “They can prepare how they want. We will make sure we are ready in our own way.”

Root was one of only four England players to bat at their voluntary net session on Monday, with Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali outnumbered by support staff. Chris Woakes and Jason Roy also undertook some outfield sprints but England insisted these were not fitness tests on their respective knee and hamstring problems, just regular aerobic work.

Beyond the coach, Trevor Bayliss, sporting a new sun hat after his car was broken into the over the weekend and kit was pinched, it was notable that two left-arm net bowlers were drafted in for this early tune-up.

After all, Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff shared nine wickets when Australia won the group game between these sides at Lord’s a fortnight ago. But despite that result, Australia’s Nathan Lyon has subsequently claimed the World Cup is “England’s to lose”.

Root, one of five English centurions in the tournament, knows all about the off-spinner’s public pronouncements after he spoke of “ending careers” before the 2017-18 Ashes.

“Nathan has a lot to say, a lot of the time, so you take it with a pinch of salt,” Root said. “It might be a way of taking pressure off himself and his team. We know what we need to do to perform well. If that clicks, we will be a force to play against.”

England have not beaten Australia in a World Cup since 1992, the last campaign in which they ended up as finalists. If they deliver on Root’s words and break this run of four successive defeats, it will certainly blow a few socks off.