Australia's success down to super coach Langer

Australia secured a top-two World Cup spot with their win over New Zealand.

Their success is a surprise. England and India, most thought, would have comfortably occupied first and second position.

After all, Australia were faced with several challenges on the cusp of the tournament.

For one, how would Australia fair with the re-addition of Steven Smith and David Warner?

There was a question over how the pair would manage the heckling from the crowd and the sledging from the opposition, the intensity of international cricket, and the stress of playing for Australia.

Also, the Australian side had finally found a winning formula in the lead up to the World Cup – without Smith and Warner. Their campaign against India earlier this year was a turning point.

And they followed their subcontinental success with a victory against Pakistan. Usman Khawaja opened the batting and scored heavily. Shaun Marsh was a significant contributor too.

Would their balance and success falter with shuffling their line-up?

Also, would Australia’s batting be too slow? Smith, Khawaja and Marsh are excellent batters, but they are accumulators. They do have the ability to accelerate, but not without a few dozen balls under their belt.

Many pundits suggested Australia’s traditional approach – conserving wickets before exploding in the final overs – would be no match for the all-out assaults that the English have been pounding out with uncanny consistency.

(Photo by Harry Trump-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)

The second significant factor Australia faced was their competition.

England have been supreme in recent years in the one-day arena off the back of their explosive batting unit. Jason Roy, Joe Root and Jos Buttler have proven themselves many times to be match-winners in their own right.

The side has depth in its all-round ability, too. Ben Stokes’ position would be justified even if he couldn’t bowl, aided by frequent contributions with bat and ball from Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid.

Add Jofra Archer to their bowling and their attack went from steady to intimidating.

The Indians, of course, field a powerful side too. Their bowling is arguably their strength, led by the unconventional and highly effective Jasprit Bumrah. Not to mention the calibre of their top order led by the incomparable pair of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Could Australia match these two with their inferior tactics and lack of dynamism?

It seems the Australians can.

But what has made this so?

There have been stand-out performers in Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Aaron Finch. And they have been ably supported by Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff and Steven Smith.

The flexibility of the squad must be applauded.

Their bowling line-up has changed many times throughout this tournament. Behrendorff was used to expose England’s weakness to left-armers, while Nathan Coulter-Nile was employed for his short ball and lower-order hitting.

A lot of credit must go to Justin Langer. His tenure didn’t start brightly on the back of the ball-tampering furore. But this didn’t seem to bother him.

Langer ignored the noise and instead focused on building an attitude among the players and support staff. A system of success.

There’s a sense of calmness with these Australian’s. A certainty with their strategy, even when it bucks the current trend.

Opening batsmen, be patient if you need to be. Assess the conditions. You can always pick up the tempo later in the innings.

Mitchell Starc, we’ll use you in short bursts. Bowl fast and full and straight. Go after batsman with the short ball, too.

Another signature of Langer’s stint has been selecting players based on their quality and consistency rather than the buzzwords that surround them. This means the best, in-form players have formed the core of the side, instead of players with the potential to do certain things. Usman Khawaja is an example of this.

Langer is banking on their consistency. After all, the best players score runs and take wickets regularly. This is better than the occasional burst of brilliance.

There’s something Perth Scorcher-like about this Australian side.

The Scorchers were a side who, on paper, didn’t look particularly menacing. But they managed to win three BBL titles.

They adopted a ‘stick to their guns’ approach. They backed their strengths: miserly bowling, sharp fielding and clinical batting.

Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, Langer did ply his trade with Perth before landing the Australian coaching gig.

Australia mightn’t have the capacity to blow away other top teams with gargantuan scores. But they do have the skills, balance and flexibility to win consistently.

And consistently good performances win tournaments.