Darren Lehmann - The man who turned it around for Australia
Lehmann enjoying a fun moment with Haddin after The Ashes triumph
“Ultimately, Australia have been outclassed in every fact in India. Watching the final massacre from his Sydney lounge-room, the injured Clarke must wonder how on earth Australia rebuilds for The Ashes.”
This is how ‘The Australian’, a leading Australian daily summed up the 4-0 drubbing that the Australians had received in India earlier last year.
How many of you would’ve predicted this scoreline for The Ashes? Not many, me neither!
From former coach Mickey Arthur suspending four players for not doing their homework in India to the 5-0 ‘pinkwash’ against England, this Aussie side has come a long way.
What changed since March? The team environment:
Surely not much seeing the team composition, other than one man – DARREN ‘BOOF’ LEHMANN. The team was losing, they had become the laughing stock of world cricket. Then Lehmann arrived, and they gradually improved.
Lehmann replaced Mickey Arthur as the coach of the Australian National side, just 1.5 weeks prior to the Ashes. Though Australia lost the Ashes 3-0 to England in the latter’s backyard, the series was much more closely fought than what the scoreline suggests.
“Lehmann made playing for Australia fun again.” - Shane Watson
Australian players have persistently lauded Lehmann, talking about how alluring the team environment has been since Lehmann took over the responsibility. Even through a difficult tour in England, there was a feeling of pliancy and even enjoyment about the Australians.
The dress-rehearsal strategy:
Though they lost ‘The Ashes’ in England, it was notable that various experiments were made, such as the one regarding the batting position of certain players like Shane Watson, who primarily emerged as a strong LBW candidate as an opener, in the English conditions.
Hence, he was pushed down the order in the later half of the Ashes in England, to make his life easier. The important part here was that Lehmann treated The Ashes in England as a dress rehearsal for the one in Australia, a master-stroke in strategy.
Shane Watson went onto perform excellently at the number 3 position in ‘The Ashes’ in Australia and recently stated in an interview:
“Darren Lehmann comes in and within one day just turns that all around. It just made me know that what I was standing strong for were the right reasons and always was.”
From Ashton Agar to Jackson Bird and James Faulkner, Lehmann tried to find the perfect bowling combination. But Ryan Harris emerged as the sole wicket taker for Australia in the series, and Lehmann knew that his team needed a deadly speedster.
Enter Mitchell Johnson: Lehmann’s trump card:
Mitchell Johnson’s rehabilitation has been Lehmann’s ace move. The way the pacer was sent back to Australia just before the decider of the seven match One Day series against India at Bangalore gave us early indications that he would be the trump card of the Aussie setup for the upcoming Ashes.
And we weren’t surprised. England never really recovered from the Johnson onslaught in the first test at The Gabba, facing the wrath of Jonnson’s short pitch deliveries at 95 KPH. The fear which was ignited in their minds was visible throughout the series. The paceman finished with 37 wickets in the series, and was deservingly declared the ‘Man of The Series’.
Security of players’ places:
None of the players were made to feel insecure about their places. One just got the feeling that when ‘The Ashes’ started in Australia, each player knew his role and exactly what he was supposed to do.
Spinner Nathan Lyon is a perfect example. There were media speculations that Australia would go into the Gabba Test with an all-pace attack, but Lehmann trusted Lyon. Lyon perfectly repaid his coach’s faith. He bowled as well as a spinner has bowled in Australia after Shane Warne’s retirement, picking up crucial wickets and assisting the pacers Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson throughout the series.
Also, Steve Smith hadn’t performed too well with the bat in The Ashes in England and the first two tests in Australia. But rather than dropping him, Lehmann stuck with him. The result? Smith went onto score a match winning hundred in the first innings at Perth, and also scored one in the fifth test at The SCG. He was responsible for getting Australia out of trouble in both those innings.
To sum up, a sport is played in the mind as much as the action on the field. A team, despite consisting of talented players, requires a positive mindset to do well. Darren Lehmann has brought that typical ‘killer instinct’ back to the Aussie set-up. But even he knows that his major challenge lies in the overseas tours. Here’s wishing the rejuvenated Aussie side the best for their tour of South Africa.