Langer also stated he believes Tim Paine could play for Australia again despite the 36-year-old taking an indefinite break after losing his job as captain for sending sexually explicit texts to a woman four years ago.

Langer visited Paine in Hobart last week to give him some support as he reels from his public humiliation.

“He has been such an exemplary figure in Australian cricket for the last four years particularly. His life has changed, obviously. But you’d have to ask him how he’s going,” said Langer.

“It was important to see him, we talked about looking after our boys and having each other’s backs. It was a no-brainer for me to go and see him. What I see, I continually see in this job and see in the society we live in, it’s brutal. 

“As I said in my very first press conference when I was asked about Steve Smith and David Warner and Cameron Bancroft [after the sandpaper ball-tampering scandal in South Africa] – there’s not one person who is asking questions here, or who is on the camera here, or who is listening to this or watching who hasn’t made a mistake in their life.

“There’s not a single person. Our captain, one of the best, made a mistake and is paying a heavy price for it.

“He absolutely loves cricket. He’s as fit as any athlete, certainly in our squad and we’ve got some fit athletes. He looks after himself so well. Who knows. His No 1 priority at the moment is his family and that’s how it should be. [I’m] not sure we’ve seen the end of him but we’ll wait and see – that will be his decision.”