Justin Langer boasts a formidable playing record against England.

In 21 Ashes Tests, Langer registered five hundreds and averaged over 50 so had plenty of time in the middle to get to know the England team. While on a recent episode of The Grade Cricketer Podcast, Langer explained that his first impressions of a number of England players wasn’t particularly favourable.

Talking about five-time Ashes winner Ian Bell, Langer, who recently said that he would have liked to have sworn less frequently  on The Test, explained: “I used to think he was the biggest k*** of all time, until he came and played for the Scorchers. I used to think he was a complete k***. But then he played for the Scorchers, and he was an absolute ripping bloke. A bit like Andy Caddick. He was a complete clown – I used to hate him. Then I played with him at Somerset, and I’m not sure I’ve met a better bloke than him in the game. It’s amazing how it works out, that’s why we love cricket so much.

“I hated Michael Vaughan. We had dinner one night, Gilly organised it. Now we’ve turned into besties. And he said, ‘I used to think you Aussies were so arrogant’ and this and that. We had a good laugh about it. Had some red wine, had a great time. He sent me a very nice text a few days ago, about The Test docco [documentary] – he really enjoyed it. He also, even better, he organised for me to meet Alex Ferguson, have lunch with Alex Ferguson, the day before the Old Trafford Test match.”