Darren Lehmann

A superbly talented player, the stockily-built Darren Lehmann is a free-scoring left-hand batsman, and an underestimated left-arm orthodox spin bowler. As an out-and-out strokeplayer, he treats spectators to an audacious mixture of swashbuckling aggression and deft finesse. From the time that he burst on to the first-class scene in Australia as a 17-year-old in the 1987-88 season, Lehmann has built an imposing record in both his home country and with the county team Yorkshire. He achieved a telling milestone by playing more first-class games and scoring more runs than any other Australian – until Michael Hussey – before making his Test debut in Bangalore in 1998. His first-class average is well over fifty, and after appearing to have blown the few Test opportunities that came his way, he bucked the trend of youth winning out by establishing himself in the Australian side at 33 with a maiden hundred at Port-of-Spain in his tenth Test, and then two against both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the next 12 months. Named stand-in vice-captain for the 2004 India tour when Ricky Ponting broke his thumb, Lehmann offered to give up his place to Michael Clarke after his amazing debut century at Bangalore, and limped out of the series after the third Test with a torn hamstring.

Lehmann’s talents won him far more regular opportunities in Australia’s one-day international team, particularly during the late 1990s, and on the restructuring of the country’s limited-overs squad in early 2002. In 1999 he had the honour of hitting the winning runs in the World Cup final at Lord’s, and was a key member of the side that defended the title four years later, although his entry into the tournament was delayed by a suspension. On the domestic front he was no less effective, and was an integral member of winning Sheffield Shield sides in 1990-91 and 1995-96 and Yorkshire’s victorious County Championship team of 2001. He is now the leading run scorer in Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup history and showed his desire had not waned in 2005-06 by piling up 1168 runs at 89.84. The peak came during a career-best 301 against Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval, an innings that ended with 116 from 87 balls in the second session. Only a late stutter prevented him from challenging Michael Bevan’s record for most runs in a season. He quit as the state’s captain after the 2006/07 season but he decided to play on in 2007-08 before finally retiring with two sign-off centuries.

Since Retirement, Darren has been busy with his numerous roles with Lion Nathan as a XXXX Gold Ambassador, as an Ambassador for the Fielders Group, as Head Coach at the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy and most recently in charge of the Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League. In his first year in charge he took the Chargers from bottom to top – winning the 2009 IPL in South Africa. Success continued in the 2010 IPL with Darren guiding Deccan to the Semi Finals.

Darren was appointed coach of the Australian Cricket team prior to the 2013 Ashes Series in England. He was appointed to this role after successfully taking the Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat to titles in all formats over the past 3 years. He will bring the same attitude to the Australian Team as he did his own cricket, to play hard, respect the game and your opponents, but most importantly enjoy the contest.

There are very few recently retired players who have been lauded for his knowledge and appetite for the game of cricket as Darren has and he will continue to make his mark in cricket not only in Australia but around the world.

At the age of 32, Darren Lehmann was given his chance to establish a regular place in the Australian Test team, replacing Mark Waugh after his retirement. Darren has grabbed the opportunity with both hands and produced some brilliant form over the past months. For years “Boof” has been scoring heavily for his state team and in England for Yorkshire.’

From the time he burst on to the scene at age 17, Darren has amassed a huge amount of runs but only ever been rewarded by the national selectors with a One-Day international place. Darren is also a useful slow left-arm bowler with a knack of picking up important wickets. He is a powerful attacking batter and loves to despatch the ball to all corners of the ground, he is also great at manufacturing shots when the bowlers are giving little away.

Darren had the honour of hitting the winning runs in the 1999 World Cup final against Pakistan and then in the 2003 World Cup final against India he took the catch, which saw the end of India and sealed victory for Australia.

Key Points
Darren’s Cricket Career:

First selected in Australian Squad as a 19 year old
Lehmann played in 117 One Day Internationals for Australia, including 19 World Cup appearances
Lehmann finished his career with a Test Match batting average of 44.9 and a One Day average of 38.96
Lehmann was the Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2001
He was also named the Wisden Australian Cricketer of the Year 2004-05
82 First Class Hundreds – 3rd only to Bradman and Langer
Scored the most First Class Runs in Australian Domestic Cricket
Hit the winning runs in the 1999 World Cup and the winning catch in the 2003 World CupV
Vice-Captain of the Australian ODI Team

Post Cricket:
After retirement, Lehmann became a hugely successful coach. His coaching resume includes:
Indian Premier League Winning Coach 2009 – Deccan Chargers
Sheffield Shield Winning Coach 2011/12 – Queensland Bulls
Ryobi Cup Winning Coach 2012/13 – Queensland Bulls
Big Bash League Winning Coach 2013 – Brisbane Heat
National Test Cricket Coach 2013 – Australia
World Cup Winning Coach 2015
Australia has been ranked no 1 in both Test Cricket and ODI during Darren’s reign as coach.