OLD LANG SIGN FROM BUTTLER’S PAL

JOS BUTTLER is preparing for another tough contest against a depleted Australia side because he knows what Justin Langer will bring.

Buttler was just starting out when Langer was coming to the end of his career at Somerset, playing together only briefly in 2009.

But it was enough for the Australian’s personality to rub off on the England man, who will be one of the star turns when the Royal London Series kicks off on

Wednesday at The Oval.

“The mantras Justin lives by I got to see a bit at Somerset,” said Buttler (right). “So they will be a disciplined, hard-working team with a hard-nosed competitive edge. They are still going to have that side to them. So it is going to be hard and competitive.

“Maybe verbally they will change a bit, but tactically and cricket-wise they will still be an aggressive side, although it is interesting to see everyone’s opinion on the word sledging because each interpretation is different.

“Personal abuse is not on. You wouldn’t walk down the street and abuse a postman if he didn’t deliver the letters in the right way, but I’m not even sure what my definition of sledging is.

“People say you know where the line is, but whose line is it? It is a very hard area to judge, I think.”

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