Australia in good hands: Lehmann

Among the scores and more who tuned into Justin Langer’s inaugural media event as coach of Australia’s men’s team was the friend and former teammate that he has prematurely replaced, Darren Lehmann.

More than most – certainly with experience that his successor is yet to acquire – Lehmann understands the scope and the challenges of the position for which Langer has signed up until at least 2022.

A job that brings searing daily scrutiny, that separates you from family and loved ones for up to 80 per cent of every year, that demands success but brooks no excuses, and that brought its previous office holder to tears when unprecedented circumstances deemed he should go.

A position that Lehmann happily describes, even today as the title he had worn for almost five years was formally handed on, as “the best job in the world”.

Not only is the 48-year-old former coach delighted that Langer has fulfilled a succession plan that was enacted years earlier but fast-tracked to today’s announcement by the ball-tampering imbroglio, he was thrilled with what he saw when the new man fronted the media in Melbourne.

“Having watched JL’s press conference, I’m just so pleased that Australian cricket is going to be in such good hands,” Lehmann told cricket.com.au today.

“He’s got the best job in the world, and I know it’s a job that I’ll miss because I loved every minute of it.

“But this is a time that Australian cricket needs to move forward and they couldn’t have a better person to lead them now.”

One of the reasons that Lehmann, who took Australia to the 2015 World Cup title, consecutive Ashes victories at home and the top of the world rankings in Test and ODI cricket at various times, holds such confidence is his intimate knowledge of the personnel that Langer will now oversee.

While the culture and character of the men’s group has been understandably critiqued in forensic detail following events in Cape Town last March, Lehmann knows the innate qualities of the players to whom he was coach, confidante and counsellor during assignments that often stretched for months.

Image Id: 4FD0C78FD276443181A42040D9CE22B6 Image Caption: Langer was unveiled as Australian coach on Thursday // cricket.com.au

As a result, he passionately believes that the new era of Australian cricket under Langer will recapture the faith of fans who he has urged to get behind the reshaped team as well as suspended trio Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.

“He (Langer) has got a really good group of players and they’ll play in an exciting way, and I’m really looking forward to watching them do that,” Lehmann said.

“They’re a great bunch of blokes, all of them.

“I loved them and, and JL will love working with them.

“They all bring different attributes, but they are all such good professional athletes and as he’ll already know they’re so much fitter and stronger than any players from our era.

“They’ve got a great work ethic, they train bloody hard to get better and he’ll just need to keep teaching them the game of cricket, that’s the one area that all of us always need to improve on.

“We just have to get behind them as a nation, support the new coach and captains, but also support those guys that aren’t playing as well.

“I was really pleased that Justin made mention of those three guys (Smith, Warner and Bancroft) who aren’t playing at the moment because they are, and they’ll continue to be, valuable players for the future of Australian cricket.

“He didn’t close the door on anyone, and I think that’s an important message.”

Lehmann, who was to have continued his tenure as coach until the end of the 2019 Ashes tour of the UK at which time Langer was earmarked to take over the role he had already filled several times on a caretaker basis, admits he’s looking forward to simply watching cricket as a fan.

Without the relentless social media soundtrack, the stifling pressure to beat all comers, and the constant fatigue that accompanies the unforgiving schedule and its concurrent commitments.

He believes that Langer’s team will present a far sterner challenge for Virat Kohli’s visiting India outfit, the world’s top-ranked Test nation, in the coming Australia summer than many are foreshadowing.

And he was heartened to hear Langer confirm that he wanted his men to continue playing tough, competitive cricket albeit with a smile more often than a snarl.

Amid talk in the wake of the ill-tempered South Africa series that Australia must revamp its on-field persona, Lehmann was concerned that trying to artificially instill a change of character into already successful athletes risked diminishing their performance.

In acknowledging that some on-field behaviours required addressing, Langer today also pointed out that he was raised in the Test team culture of former coach Bob Simpson and captain Allan Border that demanded success, unequivocally.

Or, failing that, uncompromising effort in finishing second.

“He (Langer) spoke passionately about how he wants them to play, and he’s going to find the right balance that works best for that group,” Lehmann said.

“There’s no doubt that the toughest time in that job is when the team’s not winning.

“As he said in his media conference, winning away from home is the ambition for every team, but winning at home is also paramount.

“Winning away is everyone’s aspiration, but if you don’t win at home that starts to present its own challenges.

“They are such a good group of players, I really think they can succeed against a strong, young Indian side this summer provided everyone here gets behind them.

“It’s going to be exciting to watch.

“And I’m looking forward to sitting back and watching it.”