Langer hails Sutherland's cricket tenure

New Australian coach Justin Langer does not believe James Sutherland's decision to stand down as Cricket Australia chief was down to the ball-tampering scandal.

Australian coach Justin Langer (left) and captain Tim Paine.

Coach Justin Langer (L) and captain Tim Paine have spoken ahead of Australia's ODI series in England (AAP)

New Australian coach Justin Langer does not believe the ball-tampering scandal has hastened Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland's decision to stand down.

Sutherland has held the top job for 17 years but says the time is right for him to walk away.

And he denied it was due to the cheating saga, which shredded the national team's reputation and resulted in year-long bans for skipper Steve Smith and deputy David Warner and prompted former coach Darren Lehmann to resign.

Speaking at a Lord's media conference to mark the start of Australia's one-day series in England, Lehmann's replacement Langer was quick to hail Sutherland's time in charge.

But asked if he thought the scandal was a factor, he said: "I don't think so. He's set a great foundation and I'd be surprised if that was the case.

"His leadership has been outstanding. I always remember (former coach) John Buchanan saying you judge a champion by his longevity and he's been a long time in the job and done it brilliantly.

"He'll be missed. He's an outstanding person and he'll really be missed at the top of Australian cricket. If you go through the corporate world, there's very few CEOs who have been there for so long."

Langer accepted his new charges faced a tough job restoring respect but hoped they could take a step in the right direction against the old enemy this month in England.

The Aussies can start to mend their battered reputation in five ODIs and a T20 clash.

"South Africa was really a hard time for Australian cricket, individually and collectively," Langer said.

"One of the things we always talk about is learning from the past so, as long as we learn from what happened and move forward, that's all we can do.

"There's no one in this room who hasn't made a mistake in life. The boys made a mistake and they've got a lot of learning to do - we all have.

"So we've got to make sure our behaviours are really good on the field.

"If you've got that good culture, we got to create a great changing room where the expectations are high and, if you get that culture, you've got a good environment for all our young blokes to thrive and become as good a player as they can."

Tim Paine, who succeeded Smith as captain, was also keen to stress a new approach on and off the field and the determination to boost the team's global standing.

"I think we all are. There's no doubt our reputation took a bit of a battering in South Africa," he said.

"It was very difficult for the players to come to terms with what happened but certainly, coming to England now - a few new faces, new coach and just getting back into cricket is a great opportunity for us to move on."


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Source: AAP



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