Darren Lehmann

At 54 years old, Darren Lehmann has this physical status:

Darren Scott Lehmann (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian cricket coach and former cricketer who has worked with the Australian national team.

Lehmann made his ODI debut in 1996 and Test debut in 1998.

He was on the fringes of national selection for the entirety of the 1990s and only became a regular in the ODI and Test squad in late 2002 and early 2005 before being dismissed in early 2005.

Lehmann, a right-handed bowler, was also a part-time left arm orthodox bowler, and he was renowned for his inability with physical fitness and modern diet regimens.

In November 2007, he announced his retirement from first-class cricket.

In place of Trevor Barsby, who had resigned, he also mentored Queensland during the 2010/11 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.

Only two weeks before the 2013 Ashes series, Lehmann named Mickey Arthur Arthur as the head coach of Australia's cricket team in June 2013.

Despite the fact that Australia lost the series 3-nil, Lehmann went on to coach the team in the 2013–14 series, just over five months later. Following the ball tampering scandal that he perpetuated during the match, Lehmann stepped down as head coach after his fourth test match against South Africa in March 2018.

He was believed to have been complicit in the affair, but Cricket Australia dismissed him of responsibility at the end of the probe.

Early years

Lehmann, of German-Australian descent, served as a junior representative for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Central District as well as playing cricket. Lehmann left school at the age of 16 to work on Holden's assembly line in Elizabeth, South Australia. He declined to enroll in the first intake of the newly formed Australian Cricket Academy, a full-time cricket center, due to his love of the factory life. Since both Tim May and Peter Sleep were selected into the national team, Lehmann joined the first-class scene in the 1987-88 season for South Australia, playing one match against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. After winning 10, Lehmann was suspended on his return and did not appear in any further action this season. South Australia were ranked at the bottom of the ladder in 1988-89 when coach Barry Richards brought Lehmann into the team, competing against Western Australia at the WACA. Lehmann remembered little of the match; after being struck by a Bruce Reid bouncer, he was knocked unconscious and temporarily stopped breathing. Lehmann made his name in the following match against New South Wales Blues in Adelaide Oval, scoring 50, but the innings was marred by the way it was ended. Lehmann collided with bowler Geoff Lawson and was eventually dismissed after falling over. However, Richards and South Australian Captain David Hookes said that Lawson had tripped Lehmann, causing a confrontation between the two teams.

After scoring 228 runs in a match against New South Wales in 1989/90, Lehmann came into contention for national selection. He scored a century against the touring New Zealand cricket team and followed it with centuries in three consecutive Sheffield Shield matches. After scoring over 700 runs in the first half of the season, Lehmann was drafted into the Australian squad for the New Year's Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Both openers David Boon and Geoff Marsh were injured. Mike Veletta and Tom Moody were not selected as Lehmann's opener, and he was relegated to being the 12th man. Lehmann was also called into the squad for the triangular ODI series, but Mark Waugh replaced him after being idle.

Lehmann's son was lured by John Elliott and Ian Collins, then club directors, with a lucrative contract with him to play district cricket for Carlton as well as the Victorian state team. Lehmann believed he had a great chance of international selection, but it was doubtful that selectors dismissed batting performances at Adelaide Oval on the grounds that it was a flat track. Lehmann was not selected for international recognition, but he did participate in a Shield win in 1990/91. He was able to participate in the final after being struck in the nose during a training session. Lehmann expressed dissatisfaction with another season and returned to South Australia.

Personal life

Lehmann is married to Andrea White, the sister of his Victorian, and Craig White, a teammate and English Test player, later. He has two children with Emma, one of whom, Jake, has played first-class cricket.

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Coaching career

In 2008, Lehmann joined the Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence as an assistant coach. After the Deccan Chargers' disappointing first season, he took charge as coach, replacing former India player Robin Singh; Adam Gilchrist was named captain replacing VVS Laxman. Deccan was inspired by his below-par debut in the inaugural season and finishing at the bottom of the table in 2009, winning their second IPL season. The team suffered minor setbacks after losing a close match, which brought them right back to an undefeated run in the first league season. However, the return of Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma's resurgent form, as well as Captain Adam Gilchrist's burgeoning exuberance boosted the team. With Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals losing key games, the Charger's path to the semi-finals was decipherable, allowing Deccan to progress to the semi-finals. During the semi-finals against the Delhi Daredevils (who were at the top of the table), no Chargers gave them more than a chance of winning. Despite this, Gilchrist made a spectacular 85 off just 35 balls to disqualify the Daredevils from the tournament, effectively ending the Chargers' first IPL final against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Gilchrist was out for a duck in the first round, but the Chargers recovered and posted a total of 143 for the loss of 6 wickets, despite the fact that a good defense total would have been a further 20 to 30 runs. The Chargers came out with all guns firing right from the first ball, and their zealous dedication ensured that they won the total game by 6 runs and lifting the IPL trophy.

The team and two other Indian teams competed in the inaugural T20 Champions League during the 2009 season, as the winners of the Indian Premier League's 2009 season. These were the runners-up of the IPL in 2009 – the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Delhi Daredevils, the top scorers of the league table. After losing to the Somerset Sabres and Trinidad & Tobago, who they were drawn against in Group A, the Deccan Chargers were knocked out in the group stages.

There had been a lot of optimism about the Chargers going into 2010. The team started with a loss in their first match against KKR, but then went on to win the next three matches. The Chargers did lose their next five games, but they did not recover. Many people were questioning whether the Chargers would make it to the next round, but they did so by winning the next five games, which qualified them for the play-offs. The Chargers, on the other hand, lost both games in the play-offs (Semi-finals) and were relegated to third place in third place.

The Chargers decided not to keep any of their current squad's assets before the 2011 Auction of players, putting all of them up for auction. The much awaited Auction in January met not only to hopes, but far exceeded them in many ways. The new Deccan team started the 2011 season by losing their first two games, but they did win their next match. The squad started losing games and, although winning some games, was practically dropped from the tournament. The team recovered and displayed some pride by winning their final three games, but the other teams' qualifying decisions had no impact on the other teams' chances. The Charger's poor showing was largely due to the lack of internationally accredited Indian batsmen. Fans of the Washington, D.C., have chastised the administration for failing to keep Rohit Sharma during a player transfer. Deccaneers were allowed to play IPL matches at their home ground after almost three years, but their dismal results against RCB were the only exception. However, the Chargers did manage to defeat Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors, and Kings XI in the away matches. They closed on a good start with three straight victories, but they were unable to climb to seventh place in the league standings.

The Deccan Chargers announced Trevor Penney, their new fielding coach, in the 2012 Indian Premier League competition, over Mike Young. The Chargers didn't appear consistently in 2012, with successive losses - some by slim margins. Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, and Cameron White were the only players to help the team put up a fight. The team suffered from dysfunction in the bowling and fielding departments, with fast bowler Ishant Sharma being forced to leave due to injury, and spinner Pragyan Ojha being traded to the Mumbai Indians. After languishing at the bottom for the majority of the season, Deccan finished eighth out of the nine teams in the league stage points table. The Deccan Chargers had been described as "underdogs" heading into the 2012 season and have yet to lose that designation.

After Peter Moores was fired in the first week of January 2009, Lehmann expressed interest in taking over the England coach's position, which was up for grabs. Lehmann was not the first Australian whose name had been given for consideration of the English job, though Tom Moody was also connected to the position. Graham Ford, the Kent director of cricket, had already expressed an interest in filling the position. After being linked to the English cricket team, Lehmann was also linked to the New Zealand cricket team, as they were searching for coach to replace Andy Moles, who had resigned in October 2009. Lehmann, Mark Greatbatch, and Jeff Crowe were all shortlisted for the role with New Zealand Cricket, with Lehmann losing out to Greatbatch. After Trevor Barsby's unexpected departure in 2010 in 2010, Lehmann was then named coach of the Queensland team. He was brought on as the Twenty20 coach to help the team prepare for its first match against Victoria. Queensland won the 2011/12 (110th) season of the Sheffield Shield, Australia's national first-class cricket tournament, under Lehmann's leadership; this was their seventh victory since being banned from the sport in 1926. They had won six out of their ten Shield matches, lost two, and played two matches. He joined the Brisbane Heat team, which competed in an expanded eight-team domestic Twenty2020 competition at the same time as taking up teaching Queensland. Lehmann's old mate in the Australian team, Shane Warne, told Cricket Australia that Lehmann would be a good coach for the young Australian cricket team. Warne also agreed that his old-school approach would be helpful in either the vacant head coach position or a committee position.

Lehmann was named the coach (and captain) of the IPL Kings XI Punjab franchise in 2013, replacing Adam Gilchrist, who was coach (and captain) in 2012; Sanjay Bangar had taken over in 2014; he was then appointed to replace him. Lehmann had also played for the Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL version in 2008, as well as previously assisting the now defunct Deccan Chargers franchise.

Lehmann was appointed as Australia's head coach in June 2013, succeeding Mickey Arthur, who had had a poor showing in the Champions Trophy. Australia lost 3–0 on Ashes, his first assignment, but the ODI series followed him.

Lehmann said on December 25, 2017 that he did not want to request a renewal on his deal after it came to an end.

On the third day of the third Test against South Africa, Lehmann was accused of modifying the ball's conditions, as well as Cameron Bancroft, skipper Steve Smith, and vice captain David Warner. Lehmann was found not guilty after an inquiry by Cricket Australia. However, he later revealed that he would resign as Australia's head coach after the fourth and final Test match of the series in Johannesburg.

Lehmann, the head coach of Brisbane Heat, a team in the Big Bash League, was appointed in March 2019. He resigned as the Brisbane Heat's head coach in July 2021 and became the team's assistant coach. He was named head coach by Northern Superchargers, a team in the 'The Hundred' tournament in 2019. He resigned from office in January 2022, citing Covid-19 restrictions as the primary reason for the decision.

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