AUSTRALIAN cricket is undergoing its most significant overhaul in recent memory after a shattering ball tampering controversy in South Africa saw Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft axed from the Test team and longstanding coach Darren Lehmann tearfully resigning.

New coach Justin Langer, a revered servant of the baggy green across 105 Tests for Australia, is preparing to flex his muscles in repairing the tarnished image of Australian cricket following the most damaging two months ever faced by the nation’s XI.

Hats off to the 47-year-old West Australian — there’s rarely been a worse time in history to take over the reins of an Australian cricket side.

Langer has a mountain of headaches to deal with as he shapes up to take on his first limited overs tour of England, but none will be as tough to face as the inevitable return of the tamper trio later in his tenure.

Fan support for the disgraced group’s return to the Test side in 2019 has picked up after the initial ball tampering revelation took over world cricket, but veteran cricket journalist Robert Craddock says inviting the former vice-captain back into the mix will go against the grain of Langer’s master plan for the baggy green.

“For me his biggest issue is David Warner,” Craddock told SEN’s Whateley on Monday afternoon.

“Langer wants mateship in the team and I don’t believe mateship and Warner are compatible, because half the players can’t stand him, they contacted Cricket Australia saying they didn’t want to play with him again.”

Craddock insisted players shouldn’t have a choice in who is selected in the side, but the compatibility of the 31-year-old opening batsman with the rest of the playing group should be in the back of Langer’s mind this time next year.

“It’s not their decision but that’s the vibe,” Craddock said.

“If he wants cultural shift how do you have cultural shift and Warner in the same team? That’s my question.

“A lot of people (say) ‘If you took Warner out of the team ‘Guess what? All your behavioural problems are solved aren’t they?

“But who are the other trouble makers in the team? Is there another one?”

‘CRISIS MODE’: LANGER’S ULTIMATE TASK

It’s no secret the Aussie team is in an absolute shambles after the gutting South Africa tour left them without their two best players and a coach — but a closer look at their success over the last decade reveals an ugly set of stats staring Langer in the face.

“We’re in crisis mode,” Craddock said. “Over the last 10 years, Australia has been the number one Test team for something like 14 months. We talk grandiosely about everything we’ve done, but really, we haven’t won the Ashes in England since 2001 — that’s 17 years. There’s some massive decisions to be made, there really is.”

Craddock shed light on to some of the immediate impressions Langer, a hard customer with monk-like discipline, will imprint onto the shattered team.

“He is a very serious bloke,” he said. “There is a quirky side to him. He’s a very spiritual guy; a black belt in martial arts; he writes his goals up in the shower.

“But there was always the whisper that when he was the assistant coach coming in and out in short bursts, he thought the Australian team had gone soft.

“He started his career under the tyrannical reign of Bob Simpson, who was a great old fashioned, hard-knuckled coach. The lessons of hard work never left Justin, and that’s what this team will be all about.”