If defeat by South Africa brought Australia down to earth then their coach, Justin Langer, appears keen they remain there, having sat his players down for some barefoot storytelling before their World Cup semi-final. The blockbuster with England at Edgbaston on Thursday will be the seventh time Australia have vied for a place in a men’s World Cup final and having progressed each time – including the famous tie with South Africa here in 1999 – it is well-charted territory for cricketers in canary yellow. Nevertheless, Langer was keen the current generation – bundled into the supposedly trickier second semi-final by a 10-run defeat to Faf du Plessis and co at Old Trafford on Saturday – went the extra mile in familiarising themselves with their surroundings in Birmingham. Before nets on Monday Langer ordered the squad and coaching staff to whip off their shoes and socks for a spot of “earthing” on the outfield – a practice that the Australian website Barefoot Healing claims will help to “normalise the body’s biological rhythms”. After a lap of the boundary, they sat in a circle to share stories about their World Cup dreams, something Peter Handscomb, their newly arrived middle-order batsman, fancied…