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Pressed to adjust his volatile ways, Langer played a hands-off role in the final six months, when the T20 World Cup and Ashes were secured, but did not convince Cricket Australia’s board that the arrangement was sustainable.

“Right now it’s a form of therapy, writing, because at the time I was angry, I was deeply hurt by the media,” Langer said. “I’ve got thick skin but more so how it was affecting my family, because they were reading things. But my writing and my reading, my balance and perspective in life now is one because of the great people I’ve met, and lots of reading.

“The day after I resigned I had to come back to Perth and I had to have two weeks’ quarantine. And I was living in this back room. I woke up the next morning and there’s a quote up on the wall which I’d written years ago, and it says ‘what the caterpillar sees as the end of the world, the master sees as the butterfly’, and that was like this trigger.”

The memoir, Langer’s eighth book, will focus on the themes of leadership and regeneration.

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“I started writing this book called The Lion and the Butterfly,” he said. “Lion’s about leadership and the butterfly’s always transforming, and when things don’t go well you’ve got a choice, you either quit, or you learn and you get better. I read that and I thought ‘OK, I’m not going to feel sorry for myself any longer, let’s get on with it’.

“As I sit here now I’m so happy. I’ve got time and I’ve got choice and I’m not on timetables over and over and I’m seeing my family. I’ve got some scars from the last 12 months, but I’ll work through those, that’s life. In my darkest hours is when I’ve learned my greatest lessons. Butterfly sounds a bit theatrical, but that’s where you learn.”

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