Langer: If Border had asked, I would have tampered with the ball... but he would never have asked

The former Aussie opener, who made his debut in 1993 and went on to make 105 appearances, stressed that the leaders in the dressing room when he entered the Test arena would never have involved him in such a plan

^{Justin Langer has spoken about the ball-tampering scandal}

New Australia coach Justin Langer has said he would have tampered with the ball if he had been placed in the same situation that faced Cameron Bancroft in Cape Town.

Langer was making the point that Bancroft, playing in just his eighth Test match, should not have found himself at the centre of the controversy in South Africa, which led to the opening batsman, Steve Smith and David Warner all receiving lengthy suspensions from the game.

The former Aussie opener, who made his debut in 1993 and went on to make 105 appearances, stressed that the leaders in the dressing room when he entered the Test arena would never have involved him in such a plan. However, had they done so, he admitted it would be very hard to have turned their request down.

"If Allan Border had asked me to tamper with the ball I would have," Langer told Channel Nine.

^{Cameron Bancroft received a nine-month ban for his part in the incident}

"I would have because I would be too scared not to. The difference is Allan Border would never have asked me and Bobby Simpson would have killed me.

"He would have killed anyone who brought the game into disrepute. What I cannot believe is that Cameron Bancroft walked into the Australian cricket team and he was in a position where he made that decision."

Bancroft is serving a nine-month suspension for his role in the incident, while both Smith and Warner were handed year-long bans.

Langer has not ruled out an international return for any of the trio.

"If we can keep mentoring them and helping them, and they want to keep getting better and meet the standards of the Australian cricket team, then, of course, they will be welcome back," he said.

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