Australia put their heads above the parapet on Wednesday for the first time since the cheating scandal that rocked cricket.
And the captain and coach charged with detoxing a poisonous team culture will try to prove they really have changed.
For once, results will be secondary when an unfamiliar Australia white-ball side arrive here for five 50-over matches and a Twenty20 in their first assignment since the ball-tampering affair.
Skipper Tim Paine and coach Justin Langer will have some explaining to do at Lord’s
Skipper Tim Paine and coach Justin Langer will need to explain at Lord’s why things will be different without the captain, his deputy and the coach who created a monster.
It will be fascinating to watch Australia now Steve Smith, David Warner and Darren Lehmann have gone and the days of foul-mouthed sledging and pushing their infamous ‘line’ are apparently behind them.
Will we see a bunch of Mr Nice Guys without the snarling Warner who instigated using sandpaper on the ball in an ill-tempered Test against South Africa, then ordered a patsy in Cameron Bancroft to carry out his plan?
Or will a team which still includes Nathan Lyon, who said before the Ashes that he wanted to ‘end English careers’, struggle to shake off the bad habits that turned them into world cricket’s least likeable team?
Langer (above) left the door open for Warner and said there was still a place for sledging
Australia turned to a popular and respected figure in Paine to lead them out of their crisis but the only question mark over the new captain is his longevity at the highest level.
After all, only last year Paine, dogged by a serious finger injury, was considering retirement while struggling to get a game for his state side Tasmania.
And the choice of Langer to succeed Lehmann is an interesting one as he was a combative figure as a player who never needed a second invitation to espouse the mythical powers of the Baggy Green and Aussie ‘mateship’.
The signs, in truth, were not overly encouraging when Langer was unveiled as coach last month as he left the door open for Warner and said there was still a place for sledging — as long as it didn’t cross that good old Aussie ‘line’.
At least they should have been given proper perspective on their troubles ahead of this trip when they spent three days in Belgium and France visiting First World War sights.
‘It was really humbling, offering great learning and experience,’ said Australia’s team manager Gavin Dovey. ‘JL (Langer) not only wants to develop outstanding cricketers but outstanding Australians. This was a chance to gain a deeper understanding of our national identity.’
Now a one-day side resembling a second XI, not only without Smith and Warner but also injured pacemen Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, must begin a healing process.
Australia would have preferred to play anywhere but England in their ‘return’ as crowds are sure to remind a team including lesser-known figures Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson and Andrew Tye about the scandal.
And as the new-look Australia arrived in England without Smith and Warner came news that the pair, banned for a year from international duty, will be taking their first tentative comeback steps a world away in Canada.
The Winnipeg Hawks and Toronto Nationals sound more like teams who should be competing for ice hockey’s Stanley Cup, but they will be home to the disgraced pair later this month in the Global T20 Canada Tournament. So, instead of packed-out crowds at The Oval, Trent Bridge and Old Trafford, Smith and Warner will be at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in a small town called King City, Ontario, 25 miles outside Toronto.
Smith has revealed that the magnitude of the scandal and its implications had a huge impact on him. ‘I probably spent four days in tears after it,’ said the ex-captain in a speech at Sydney’s Knox Grammar School.
‘I was really struggling mentally and I was lucky I had close friends and family who I could speak to all hours of the day. That made a huge difference to the head space I’m in now.’
The road back for Smith and Warner remains a long one but, for now, the men who have had to pick up the pieces without them will begin a rehabilitation programme of their own. In front of a tough English audience.