Darren Lehmann
Encyclopedia
Darren Scott Lehmann is a former Australia
n cricket
er, who 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 team in 2001 and Test team in late 2002, before being dropped in early 2005. Primarily an aggressive left-handed batsman, Lehmann was also a part-time left arm orthodox bowler, and was known for his disregard for physical fitness and modern dietary regimes. He announced his retirement from first-class cricket in November 2007. Recently he was appointed as the coach of Deccan Chargers
, an IPL team. He coached Queensland during the 2010/11 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash in place of Trevor Barsby, who had resigned.
car manufacturers in Elizabeth, South Australia
. He declined selection to the first intake of the newly-formed Australian Cricket Academy
, a full-time cricket centre, citing his enjoyment of the factory life. Lehmann entered the first-class scene as a 17-year-old in the 1987/88 season for South Australia
, playing one match against Victoria
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
after both Tim May
and Peter Sleep
were called into the national team. After making 10, Lehmann was omitted upon their return and did not play any further part in the season. In 1988/89, South Australia were at the bottom of the ladder, when coach Barry Richards called Lehmann into the team, playing against Western Australia
at the WACA
. Lehmann remembered little of the match; after being struck in the right temple by a Bruce Reid
bouncer
, he was knocked unconscious and temporarily ceased breathing. Lehmann made his mark in the following match against New South Wales Blues
at Adelaide Oval
, reaching 50, but the innings was marred by the manner in which it was ended. Going for a quick single, Lehmann collided with bowler Geoff Lawson
and was run out
after falling over. However, Richards and South Australian captain David Hookes
claimed that Lawson had tripped Lehmann, leading to a confrontation between the two teams.
In 1989/90, Lehmann came into contention for national selection, after scoring 228 runs at the age of 19 in a match against Victoria
in that season. He also scored a century against the touring New Zealand cricket team
and followed that with centuries in three consecutive Sheffield Shield matches. Having scored 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
after both openers David Boon
and Geoff Marsh
were injured. As Lehmann was not an opener, Mike Veletta
and Tom Moody
were selected and he was relegated to being 12th man. Lehmann was also called into the squad for the triangular ODI series, but after being unused he was replaced by Mark Waugh
.
The following year, Lehmann was lured to move to Victoria by John Elliott
and Ian Collins
, then directors of the Carlton Football Club
with a lucrative deal for him to play district cricket for Carlton, as well as the Victorian state team. Lehmann believed that he had a better chance of international selection, feeling that selectors disregarded batting performances at Adelaide Oval
on the perception that it was a flat track. Lehmann was not, however, rewarded with international selection, but he did participate in a Shield victory in 1990/91. He was fortunate to play in the final, having needed facial surgery prior to the match after being struck in the nose during a training session. Following another season, Lehmann expressed dissatisfaction, and returned to South Australia.
, as well as for Yorkshire
in England (from 1997 until 2006). During this time, Lehmann had great success as a player for both teams and he captained them both; South Australia from 1998/99 until 2006/07 and Yorkshire in 2002.
Playing for South Australia in this period, Lehmann scored over 10,500 runs in 107 first-class appearances for the state, at an average of around 55. In 1995/96 he was a part of the South Australian team that claimed the Sheffield Shield. He made 37 centuries with a top score of 301 not out against Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval
in 2005/06. He also took 44 wickets at an average of 38.06. He held the record for the most first-class runs scored and first-class games played before selection to the Australian Test team prior to Michael Hussey
's Test debut in 2005. He currently holds the record for the most runs in the history of the Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup
with 12971, over 2000 more than the second highest run scorer, Jamie Cox
. Whilst he had great success as a player, his captaincy record was not as distinguished; South Australia did not win any silverware under his captaincy and he quit the role at the end of the 2006/07 season after South Australia managed to win only one Pura Cup game. Lehmann announced his retirement on 19 November 2007 citing injury concerns as the main reason behind his decision to quit. He ended his limited-overs career for South Australia on 21 November with an unbeaten 126 from 104 balls in an unbroken 236 partnership with Matthew Elliott (a South Australian record for any wicket in List A cricket) to complete the highest successful run-chase in Australian List A cricket so far. His final first-class innings for South Australia was a man-of-the-match winning 167 against Western Australia the following weekend.
From 1997 until 2006, Lehmann represented Yorkshire as an overseas player. He is by far the most successful overseas player to represent the club since the members first voted to allow overseas players in 1992, having played 88 County Championship
games, scoring 8871 runs at an average of 68.76. In 2001 he helped Yorkshire to their first County Championship title since 1968, with 1416 runs in 13 games at an average of 83.29. He scored 26 centuries with a top score of 339 against Durham in 2006 during his final game for the club, helping Yorkshire to avoid relegation by a single point. It is the highest individual first-class innings at Headingley
, surpassing Sir Donald Bradman's 334 against England in 1930, and the second highest for Yorkshire behind George Hirst's 341 against Leicestershire in 1905. He also holds the record for the highest one-day score for Yorkshire, 191 from 103 balls against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough in 2001. He took 61 wickets at an average of 32.00 in County Championship games. http://cricketarchive.com/Yorkshire/Players/3/3324/f_Bowling_by_Team.html As with South Australia, his captaincy record was not as distinguished as his playing record. He captained Yorkshire only in the 2002 season during which they were relegated to the second division of the County Championship. They did, however, win the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, the 50-over-a-side limited overs competition, under his captaincy. Lehmann was a very popular member of the Yorkshire team amongst both the fans and the club hierarchy.http://www.yorkshireccc.com/news/news44343396 He has stated that he would like to return to Yorkshire in a coaching role after his retirement from playing for South Australia.http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/305489.html
Lehmann had only limited opportunities at the international level. His body shape, relative lack of fitness and physical condition, while never dulling his run-scoring capabilities, meant he was never a favourite of the Australian hierarchy, and notably never saw eye-to-eye with former coach Bob Simpson
in the early-mid 1990s. Simpson was regarded as one of the best fielders to have played the game, and was renowned for his heavy emphasis on fielding and fitness, the weakest aspects of Lehmann's game.
With Simpson's retirement at the end of the 1996 Cricket World Cup
, Lehmann made his ODI debut later in the year in Sharjah
after injuries to other players. He was a sporadic member of the team until the 1997/98 Australian season, when captain Mark Taylor
was dropped from the team. Lehmann then became a semi-regular member of the ODI team, and also toured India in early 1998.
Lehmann made his Test debut in the Third Test against India
in March 1998 in Bangalore
, after Steve Waugh
suffered a hamstring injury. Lehmann scored 52 on debut, as well as claiming Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin
while bowling. Selectors were impressed with his performance, and when Waugh returned from injury on the tour of Pakistan later that year, Ricky Ponting
was instead dropped. Lehmann scored 98 in the First Test in Rawalpindi
, but an injury forced him out of the Second Test in Peshawar
in which Taylor scored a (then) Australian record 334 not out on a flat pitch in a high-scoring drawn match. Lehmann failed to perform in the final Test in Karachi
and, despite scoring his maiden ODI century, he was dropped for the first two Tests of the 1998/99 Ashes series. Ponting was recalled by the selectors, under the justification of "horses for courses", as he was regarded as a superior player of pace bowling but weaker in spin, with the first two Tests being held on bouncy wickets in Brisbane
and Perth
. However, failures by Ponting in the first three Tests saw Lehmann recalled to the team for the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Further failures by Lehmann in those Tests saw him dropped in early 1999 from the Test team to tour the West Indies, who had a pure pace attack.
Lehmann retained his position, however, in the ODI team, and scored another century during the West Indies tour. He went on to the 1999 World Cup
, where he played in every match bar one where he was injured, and hit the winning runs in the final. However, upon his return to Australia, he was dropped from the ODI team in favour of Damien Martyn
, who was the reserve batsman. Lehmann spent the 1999/2000 international season out of the team, and was not given an opportunity again until the 2000/01 season. During that season Australia was in dominant form, winning all five Tests. Captain Steve Waugh
took the opportunity to introduce a rotation system for the ODI series, and Lehmann was allowed regular matches as all members of the team were periodically rested. Despite topping the averages and Steve Waugh having the lowest among the batsmen during the round-robin stages of the triangular tournament, Lehmann was dropped for the finals series, as he was the least senior batsman in the team. Lehmann did not receive further chances in the Test format either, as Matthew Hayden
, Damien Martyn
and Simon Katich
were all recalled in 2000 and 2001 when other players were dropped. Following Hayden's heavy scoring in the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
in India, he was afforded a place in the ODI squad, and Lehmann was removed altogether from the squad during the 2001/02 season. Australia however faltered during the campaign, and Lehmann was recalled for the final match of the series, in which he top scored. After Australia failed to qualify for the finals, batsmen Mark
and Steve Waugh
were dropped from the ODI team, and Lehmann's ODI position became permanent.
Later in 2002, Mark Waugh was dropped from the Test team, and Lehmann was recalled for the first time in almost four years. After playing three Tests without posting a large score, Lehmann was injured, and Martin Love
replaced him. Lehmann came under more pressure upon his return, when during an ODI against Sri Lanka
, he had an error of judgment and was run out. Upon returning to the dressing room, his frustration boiled over and he made a racial comment which saw him banned for five ODI matches, becoming the first player banned for racial vilification
. After missing the first part of the 2003 Cricket World Cup
, Lehmann went on to take the winning catch in the final against India in Johannesburg
. Lehmann's Test spot was spared when Martyn was forced out due to a finger injury, with Love and Lehmann playing in the middle order on the subsequent tour of the West Indies. Lehmann then posted his maiden Test century on the tour, and on the winter Test series against Bangladesh in northern Australia, Lehmann scored consecutive centuries to solidify his position in the team. His Test career was again put on hold, when he was injured in November against Zimbabwe, allowing Katich to play in his place and score a century and top score in both innings in the Fourth Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground
to stake a claim for Lehmann's spot. However, Steve Waugh retired after the series, and both players were included on the tour to Sri Lanka. There, Lehmann scored consecutive centuries on turning tracks against Muttiah Muralitharan
to help Australia to a 3-0 clean sweep despite conceding a first innings lead in each of the matches.
Lehmann's position was again called into question on the 2004 tour to India when Michael Clarke
had an opportunity to debut in Bangalore
on the 2004 India tour, when Ricky Ponting
broke his thumb, and Clarke scored 151 in his first innings in Test matches. When Ponting returned, the Australian selectors were obliged to select Clarke, meaning that they had to drop Lehmann or Katich. Lehmann publicly offered to be dropped following a run of poor form, but the selectors did not take the offer, and the younger Katich was instead dropped. Lehmann stayed on briefly, but after two ungainly dismissals to Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar
in the first Two Tests of the 2004/05 series, in which Lehmann was out of position after wandering across the crease, he was dropped in favour of Shane Watson
for the Sydney Test. Another maligned shot selection in the following ODI series, attempting to reverse sweep Shahid Afridi
first ball, resulted in his dismissal from the ODI team, with Katich again promoted. Lehmann was unable to reclaim a spot as Australia headed towards the 2005 Ashes series looking for batsmen to combat an England team fielding four pace bowlers, including three at the high speed of 90 mi/h, and he was never again on the Cricket Australia
's contracted players list. In November 2007, he announced his retirement, stating that "Physically and mentally I've had enough".
in Colombo
in 2004. He was relatively accurate, but had little ability to turn the ball and used a flat trajectory. He was also a reasonable fielder, but his lack of fitness meant that his agility was poor.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, who 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 team in 2001 and Test team in late 2002, before being dropped in early 2005. Primarily an aggressive left-handed batsman, Lehmann was also a part-time left arm orthodox bowler, and was known for his disregard for physical fitness and modern dietary regimes. He announced his retirement from first-class cricket in November 2007. Recently he was appointed as the coach of Deccan Chargers
Deccan Chargers
Hyderabad Deccan Chargers known in short as DC or 'Chargers' is a cricket franchise that represents the city of Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League...
, an IPL team. He coached Queensland during the 2010/11 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash in place of Trevor Barsby, who had resigned.
Early years
A junior representative for Central District Football Club as well as playing cricket, Lehmann left school at the age of 16, to work on the assembly line of HoldenHolden
GM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...
car manufacturers in Elizabeth, South Australia
Elizabeth, South Australia
Elizabeth is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.-History:Elizabeth was established in 1955 as part of a planned satellite town by the South Australian Housing Trust on rural land between the older towns of Salisbury and...
. He declined selection to the first intake of the newly-formed Australian Cricket Academy
Australian Cricket Academy
The Australian Cricket Academy, originally located at Henley Beach in Adelaide, was formed in 1987 as a joint initiative of the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Cricket Board . It was designed to be a finishing school for leading young cricketers and is a program within the AIS...
, a full-time cricket centre, citing his enjoyment of the factory life. Lehmann entered the first-class scene as a 17-year-old in the 1987/88 season for South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
, playing one match against Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
after both Tim May
Tim May
Timothy Brian Alexander May is a former cricketer for South Australia and Australia, who is currently a leading players' representative in his role as Chief Executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations...
and Peter Sleep
Peter Sleep
Peter Raymond Sleep is a former Australian cricketer who played 14 Tests for Australia between 1979 and 1990...
were called into the national team. After making 10, Lehmann was omitted upon their return and did not play any further part in the season. In 1988/89, South Australia were at the bottom of the ladder, when coach Barry Richards called Lehmann into the team, playing against Western Australia
Western Warriors
The Western Australia cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team representing the state of Western Australia...
at the WACA
WACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
. Lehmann remembered little of the match; after being struck in the right temple by a Bruce Reid
Bruce Reid
Bruce Anthony Reid is an Australian cricketer and bowling coach of the Indian national cricket team on their 2003-04 tour to Australia....
bouncer
Bouncer (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...
, he was knocked unconscious and temporarily ceased breathing. Lehmann made his mark in the following match against New South Wales Blues
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
at Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
, reaching 50, but the innings was marred by the manner in which it was ended. Going for a quick single, Lehmann collided with bowler Geoff Lawson
Geoff Lawson (cricketer)
Geoffrey Francis Lawson, OAM is a former Australian cricketer and the former coach of the Pakistan cricket team....
and was run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
after falling over. However, Richards and South Australian captain David Hookes
David Hookes
David William Hookes was an Australian cricketer, broadcaster and coach of the Victorian cricket team. An aggressive left-handed batsman, Hookes usually batted in the middle order...
claimed that Lawson had tripped Lehmann, leading to a confrontation between the two teams.
In 1989/90, Lehmann came into contention for national selection, after scoring 228 runs at the age of 19 in a match against Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
in that season. He also scored a century against the touring New Zealand cricket team
New Zealand cricket team
The New Zealand cricket team, nicknamed the Black Caps, are the national cricket team representing New Zealand. They played their first in 1930 against England in Christchurch, New Zealand, becoming the fifth country to play Test cricket. It took the team until 1955–56 to win a Test, against the...
and followed that with centuries in three consecutive Sheffield Shield matches. Having scored 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
Pakistani cricket team
The Pakistan cricket team is the national cricket team of Pakistan. Pakistan, represented by the Pakistan Cricket Board , is a full member of the International Cricket Council, and thus participates in , and cricket matches....
at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
after both openers David Boon
David Boon
David Clarence Boon MBE , nicknamed Boony, is a former Australian cricketer whose international playing career spanned the years 1984–1995...
and Geoff Marsh
Geoff Marsh
Geoffrey Robert Marsh is a former Australian cricketer, coach and selector. He played 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day Internationals for Australia as an opening batsman...
were injured. As Lehmann was not an opener, Mike Veletta
Mike Veletta
Michael Robert John Veletta is a former Australian and Western Australian cricketer.He played in 8 Tests and 20 One Day International matches between 1987 and 1990...
and Tom Moody
Tom Moody
Thomas Masson Moody is a former Australian cricketer and coach of the Sri Lankan cricket team. Today he is the coach for the IPL team Kings XI Punjab...
were selected and he was relegated to being 12th man. Lehmann was also called into the squad for the triangular ODI series, but after being unused he was replaced by Mark Waugh
Mark Waugh
Mark Edward Waugh AM is a former Australian cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, and made his One-Day International debut in 1988. Waugh is regarded as one of the most elegant and gifted stroke makers to ever play the game. His nickname is "Junior" as...
.
The following year, Lehmann was lured to move to Victoria by John Elliott
John Elliott (businessman)
John Dorman Elliott is a former president of the Liberal Party, and former president of Carlton Football Club. In 2003 he was found guilty of trading while insolvent and in 2005 declared bankrupt...
and Ian Collins
Ian Collins (Australian)
Ian "Collo" Collins AM is a former Australian rules footballer and is now a high-profile businessman.- Playing career :...
, then directors of the Carlton Football Club
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
with a lucrative deal for him to play district cricket for Carlton, as well as the Victorian state team. Lehmann believed that he had a better chance of international selection, feeling that selectors disregarded batting performances at Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
on the perception that it was a flat track. Lehmann was not, however, rewarded with international selection, but he did participate in a Shield victory in 1990/91. He was fortunate to play in the final, having needed facial surgery prior to the match after being struck in the nose during a training session. Following another season, Lehmann expressed dissatisfaction, and returned to South Australia.
South Australia and Yorkshire: 1993/94 to 2007/08
From the 1993/94 season until 2007/08, Lehmann played domestic cricket for his home state, South AustraliaSouthern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
, as well as for Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
in England (from 1997 until 2006). During this time, Lehmann had great success as a player for both teams and he captained them both; South Australia from 1998/99 until 2006/07 and Yorkshire in 2002.
Playing for South Australia in this period, Lehmann scored over 10,500 runs in 107 first-class appearances for the state, at an average of around 55. In 1995/96 he was a part of the South Australian team that claimed the Sheffield Shield. He made 37 centuries with a top score of 301 not out against Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
in 2005/06. He also took 44 wickets at an average of 38.06. He held the record for the most first-class runs scored and first-class games played before selection to the Australian Test team prior to Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
's Test debut in 2005. He currently holds the record for the most runs in the history of the Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup
Pura Cup
The Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
with 12971, over 2000 more than the second highest run scorer, Jamie Cox
Jamie Cox (cricketer)
Jamie Cox is a former opening batsman cricketer, who played for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australia's domestic competitions....
. Whilst he had great success as a player, his captaincy record was not as distinguished; South Australia did not win any silverware under his captaincy and he quit the role at the end of the 2006/07 season after South Australia managed to win only one Pura Cup game. Lehmann announced his retirement on 19 November 2007 citing injury concerns as the main reason behind his decision to quit. He ended his limited-overs career for South Australia on 21 November with an unbeaten 126 from 104 balls in an unbroken 236 partnership with Matthew Elliott (a South Australian record for any wicket in List A cricket) to complete the highest successful run-chase in Australian List A cricket so far. His final first-class innings for South Australia was a man-of-the-match winning 167 against Western Australia the following weekend.
From 1997 until 2006, Lehmann represented Yorkshire as an overseas player. He is by far the most successful overseas player to represent the club since the members first voted to allow overseas players in 1992, having played 88 County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
games, scoring 8871 runs at an average of 68.76. In 2001 he helped Yorkshire to their first County Championship title since 1968, with 1416 runs in 13 games at an average of 83.29. He scored 26 centuries with a top score of 339 against Durham in 2006 during his final game for the club, helping Yorkshire to avoid relegation by a single point. It is the highest individual first-class innings at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
, surpassing Sir Donald Bradman's 334 against England in 1930, and the second highest for Yorkshire behind George Hirst's 341 against Leicestershire in 1905. He also holds the record for the highest one-day score for Yorkshire, 191 from 103 balls against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough in 2001. He took 61 wickets at an average of 32.00 in County Championship games. http://cricketarchive.com/Yorkshire/Players/3/3324/f_Bowling_by_Team.html As with South Australia, his captaincy record was not as distinguished as his playing record. He captained Yorkshire only in the 2002 season during which they were relegated to the second division of the County Championship. They did, however, win the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy, the 50-over-a-side limited overs competition, under his captaincy. Lehmann was a very popular member of the Yorkshire team amongst both the fans and the club hierarchy.http://www.yorkshireccc.com/news/news44343396 He has stated that he would like to return to Yorkshire in a coaching role after his retirement from playing for South Australia.http://content-eap.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/305489.html
Struggle to make the Australian side
Bob Simpson (cricketer)
Robert Baddeley Simpson AO is a former cricketer who played for New South Wales, Western Australia and Australia, captaining the national team from 1963–64 until 1967–68, and again in 1977–78. He later had a highly successful term as the coach of the Australian team...
in the early-mid 1990s. Simpson was regarded as one of the best fielders to have played the game, and was renowned for his heavy emphasis on fielding and fitness, the weakest aspects of Lehmann's game.
With Simpson's retirement at the end of the 1996 Cricket World Cup
1996 Cricket World Cup
The 1996 Cricket World Cup, also called the Wills World Cup after its official sponsors, was the sixth edition of the tournament organized by the International Cricket Council . It was the second World Cup to be hosted by Pakistan and India, and for the first time by Sri Lanka...
, Lehmann made his ODI debut later in the year in Sharjah
Sharjah (city)
Sharjah is the third largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula.Sharjah is the seat of government of the emirate of Sharjah...
after injuries to other players. He was a sporadic member of the team until the 1997/98 Australian season, when captain Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor (cricketer)
Mark Anthony Taylor, AO is a former Australian cricket player and Test opening batsman from 1988–1999, as well as captain from 1994–1999, succeeding Allan Border...
was dropped from the team. Lehmann then became a semi-regular member of the ODI team, and also toured India in early 1998.
Lehmann made his Test debut in the Third Test against India
Indian cricket team
The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....
in March 1998 in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, after Steve Waugh
Steve Waugh
Stephen Rodger "Steve" Waugh, AO is a former Australian cricketer and fraternal twin of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a successful medium-pace bowler...
suffered a hamstring injury. Lehmann scored 52 on debut, as well as claiming Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin
Mohammad Azharuddin
Mohammad Azharuddin also known as Azhar, is an Indian politician and former cricketer. He was an accomplished batsman and captained the Indian cricket team for much of the 1990s, until his involvement in a match-fixing scandal forced him into retirement...
while bowling. Selectors were impressed with his performance, and when Waugh returned from injury on the tour of Pakistan later that year, Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
was instead dropped. Lehmann scored 98 in the First Test in Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi , locally known as Pindi, is a city in the Pothohar region of Pakistan near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, in the province of Punjab. Rawalpindi is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad...
, but an injury forced him out of the Second Test in Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
in which Taylor scored a (then) Australian record 334 not out on a flat pitch in a high-scoring drawn match. Lehmann failed to perform in the final Test in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
and, despite scoring his maiden ODI century, he was dropped for the first two Tests of the 1998/99 Ashes series. Ponting was recalled by the selectors, under the justification of "horses for courses", as he was regarded as a superior player of pace bowling but weaker in spin, with the first two Tests being held on bouncy wickets in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. However, failures by Ponting in the first three Tests saw Lehmann recalled to the team for the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Further failures by Lehmann in those Tests saw him dropped in early 1999 from the Test team to tour the West Indies, who had a pure pace attack.
Lehmann retained his position, however, in the ODI team, and scored another century during the West Indies tour. He went on to the 1999 World Cup
1999 Cricket World Cup
-England:-Outside England:-Group A:-Results:-------------------------------------------------------------Group B:-Results:------------------------------------------------------------...
, where he played in every match bar one where he was injured, and hit the winning runs in the final. However, upon his return to Australia, he was dropped from the ODI team in favour of Damien Martyn
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player in 1999–2000 and a regular Test player in 2001 until his retirement in late 2006...
, who was the reserve batsman. Lehmann spent the 1999/2000 international season out of the team, and was not given an opportunity again until the 2000/01 season. During that season Australia was in dominant form, winning all five Tests. Captain Steve Waugh
Steve Waugh
Stephen Rodger "Steve" Waugh, AO is a former Australian cricketer and fraternal twin of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a successful medium-pace bowler...
took the opportunity to introduce a rotation system for the ODI series, and Lehmann was allowed regular matches as all members of the team were periodically rested. Despite topping the averages and Steve Waugh having the lowest among the batsmen during the round-robin stages of the triangular tournament, Lehmann was dropped for the finals series, as he was the least senior batsman in the team. Lehmann did not receive further chances in the Test format either, as Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden
Matthew Lawrence Hayden AM is a former Australian cricketer, and was signed to the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL until the 2010 season. Hayden is a powerful and aggressive left-handed opening batsman, known for his ability to score quickly at both Test and one day levels.Hayden holds the record...
, Damien Martyn
Damien Martyn
Damien Richard Martyn is a former Australian cricketer. He played for the national team sporadically in 1992–1994 before becoming a regular ODI player in 1999–2000 and a regular Test player in 2001 until his retirement in late 2006...
and Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
were all recalled in 2000 and 2001 when other players were dropped. Following Hayden's heavy scoring in the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
The Border–Gavaskar Trophy is a Test cricket series, played between India and Australia. It has witnessed some of the most competitive Test series played in recent years, with results usually either being a narrow win for one of the sides or a closely fought draw...
in India, he was afforded a place in the ODI squad, and Lehmann was removed altogether from the squad during the 2001/02 season. Australia however faltered during the campaign, and Lehmann was recalled for the final match of the series, in which he top scored. After Australia failed to qualify for the finals, batsmen Mark
Mark Waugh
Mark Edward Waugh AM is a former Australian cricketer, who represented Australia in Test matches from early 1991 to late 2002, and made his One-Day International debut in 1988. Waugh is regarded as one of the most elegant and gifted stroke makers to ever play the game. His nickname is "Junior" as...
and Steve Waugh
Steve Waugh
Stephen Rodger "Steve" Waugh, AO is a former Australian cricketer and fraternal twin of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a successful medium-pace bowler...
were dropped from the ODI team, and Lehmann's ODI position became permanent.
Later in 2002, Mark Waugh was dropped from the Test team, and Lehmann was recalled for the first time in almost four years. After playing three Tests without posting a large score, Lehmann was injured, and Martin Love
Martin Love
Martin Lloyd Love is a former Australian cricketer who played in five Tests from 2002 to 2003. He was a right-handed batsman....
replaced him. Lehmann came under more pressure upon his return, when during an ODI against Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan cricket team
The Sri Lankan cricket team is the national cricket team of Sri Lanka. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation...
, he had an error of judgment and was run out. Upon returning to the dressing room, his frustration boiled over and he made a racial comment which saw him banned for five ODI matches, becoming the first player banned for racial vilification
Racial vilification
Racial vilification is the term in the legislation of Australia that refers to a public act that encourages or incites others to hate people because of their race, nationality, country of origin, colour or ethnic origin...
. After missing the first part of the 2003 Cricket World Cup
2003 Cricket World Cup
-Group stage tables and results:The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.-Pool A:...
, Lehmann went on to take the winning catch in the final against India in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
. Lehmann's Test spot was spared when Martyn was forced out due to a finger injury, with Love and Lehmann playing in the middle order on the subsequent tour of the West Indies. Lehmann then posted his maiden Test century on the tour, and on the winter Test series against Bangladesh in northern Australia, Lehmann scored consecutive centuries to solidify his position in the team. His Test career was again put on hold, when he was injured in November against Zimbabwe, allowing Katich to play in his place and score a century and top score in both innings in the Fourth Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
to stake a claim for Lehmann's spot. However, Steve Waugh retired after the series, and both players were included on the tour to Sri Lanka. There, Lehmann scored consecutive centuries on turning tracks against Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan
Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...
to help Australia to a 3-0 clean sweep despite conceding a first innings lead in each of the matches.
Lehmann's position was again called into question on the 2004 tour to India when Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
had an opportunity to debut in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
on the 2004 India tour, when Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
broke his thumb, and Clarke scored 151 in his first innings in Test matches. When Ponting returned, the Australian selectors were obliged to select Clarke, meaning that they had to drop Lehmann or Katich. Lehmann publicly offered to be dropped following a run of poor form, but the selectors did not take the offer, and the younger Katich was instead dropped. Lehmann stayed on briefly, but after two ungainly dismissals to Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, when he clocked in at 161.3 km/h in his bowling speed, twice at a cricket match against...
in the first Two Tests of the 2004/05 series, in which Lehmann was out of position after wandering across the crease, he was dropped in favour of Shane Watson
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
for the Sydney Test. Another maligned shot selection in the following ODI series, attempting to reverse sweep Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi
Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi , popularly known as Shahid Afridi , is a Pakistani cricketer. Between 1996 and 2011, Afridi played 27 Tests, 325 One Day Internationals, and 43 Twenty20 Internationals for the Pakistani national team...
first ball, resulted in his dismissal from the ODI team, with Katich again promoted. Lehmann was unable to reclaim a spot as Australia headed towards the 2005 Ashes series looking for batsmen to combat an England team fielding four pace bowlers, including three at the high speed of 90 mi/h, and he was never again on the Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...
's contracted players list. In November 2007, he announced his retirement, stating that "Physically and mentally I've had enough".
Style
Lehmann’s batting technique was quite unconventional; taking guard outside leg stump, and, just before a ball was bowled, stepping back and across toward and sometimes past off stump. This peculiar technique meant that if the ball was short in pitch, he did not need to step back any further. Lehmann was noted for his play against spin, and was a useful left-arm orthodox spinner himself, as evidenced by his match figures of 6/92 against Sri LankaSri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
in Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
in 2004. He was relatively accurate, but had little ability to turn the ball and used a flat trajectory. He was also a reasonable fielder, but his lack of fitness meant that his agility was poor.