Australian coach Darren Lehmann's contract extended until 2019

Darren Lehmann with captain Steve Smith

The contract of Australian coach Darren Lehman has been extended up till 2019 Ashes to be held in England. Under Lehmann, Australia has won the 2015 World Cup and regained their top spot in Tests, but for the next 3 years, his attention will be mainly on trying to better their sub-continental record. Their Test record in the sub-continent has been below par losing each of their last seven test matches.

Lehmann was appointed prior to the 2013 Ashes series and he has guided the Aussies to home Test series wins against England, India, New Zealand and West Indies, also inflicting away defeats on South Africa and New Zealand. But, they were whitewashed by India and they surrendered meekly to Pakistan at U.A.E. They also lost to an unfancied Sri Lanka last week at Pallekele and Lehmann has a real challenge on his hands to make Australia the undisputed leaders of cricket again.

"The board has actually seen that we are doing okay as such, barring the result in the Test [at Pallekele], but looking forward to the next few years in charge and hopefully getting some wins in the sub-continent, first and foremost on the agenda, but developing the side as we are," Lehmann said. "We have a different coaching group now coming in and the players are refreshed and I am looking forward to the challenge."

"I suppose the big one on everyone's lips is the sub-continent - we certainly have to improve there. Ashes is a big home and away and, obviously, the World Cup. They are the big ones for us, as everyone knows, but you have got to try and win every game you play. For us, we just have to get better playing in all conditions.

"Probably the spinning ball on the sub-continent [is our biggest challenge] you would think. Swinging ball - a lot has been made of the England swinging ball and we won a couple of Test matches this time, albeit we lost the Ashes and the wickets they produced were very seam friendly. End of the day, that is the way cricket goes. For us, it is probably more the sub-continent conditions at the moment, getting prepared for that obviously with the next two Test matches here and then India at the back end."

Since Lehmann’s appointment as Australian coach, the Kangaroos face one their most challenging stretches of cricket, commencing from the tour to India, continues with Champions Trophy, two Ashes series and a World Cup in England. When asked whether his extended tenure would mark the completion of his tenure as a coach, he replied, "I would think it would be, yeah". The possible replacement for Lehmann after his tenure could be the newly appointed assistant coach David Saker or the recent interim coach Justin Langer but what actually happens after 3 years remains to be seen.

"We'll give those guys opportunities along the way. As I've always said, it's the best job in the world. I love the job. But it's a job you can't do forever either," Lehmann said. "So whatever opportunities we can give to the guys along the way we certainly will do. And then it's up to the board what they do from there and the high-performance department.

"I think you're judged on results most of the time all around the world, not just on the subcontinent. I think you've got to play well and win a lot of games of cricket basically as a coach. That's what players have to do, that's what coaches have to do in any sport. You've got to hopefully keep getting the results that make it a lot easier."

It was once cited that Lehmann was more of an unorthodox person to be entrusted with the coaching job but the mentality of the board has changed after his success with the national team. The team performance manager Pat Howard said it was Lehmann’s popularity and influence to the game that played a part in extending his tenure.

"We wanted certainty and stability for the playing group with both the coach and assistant coach contracted as we build towards the Ashes series and the 2019 World Cup," Howard said. "Darren has had great success in the role and he and the National Selection Panel deserve a huge amount of credit for taking a relatively young side to number one in the world in two of the three formats.”

"What often goes unseen is how big of a supporter Darren has been of the wider cricket system in Australia and that is crucial to the long term sustainability of Australian cricket. The commitment he shows to the role goes far broader that of the Australian men's team and extends into the global support of the game through his work on the ICC Cricket Committee." Howard concluded.