Lehmann sure Ashes boycott won't happen

Australia coach Darren Lehmann is confident there will be no boycott of the Ashes despite the players' pay dispute.

Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) are seemingly no closer to agreeing to a new pay deal.

It led to star batsman David Warner saying Australia could be left without a team for the Ashes beginning later this year.

But Lehmann played down that threat at a news conference on Thursday, saying: "No, I wouldn't think [a strike would happen].

"And I'd hope not as a fan. I'm sure that won't happen."

The scrapping of the revenue-sharing model has brought negotiations between the parties to a halt, with the current deal expiring on June 30.

Lehmann admitted the dispute would make it hard for players at the ICC Champions Trophy, which begins at the start of next month.

"It is going to be a bit of a distraction, there's no doubt about that," he said.

"But at the end of the day we need to concentrate on the cricket, we're there to do a job and play as well as we possibly can."

Lehmann remains confident a new deal will be struck, but said CA and ACA needed to hold talks.

He said: "It's just communication – that's the biggest thing. Both sides have their side, but just getting together and actually working it out is the way to go, as we know. I'm sure both sides will get there.

"It always traditionally stays quite late in the negotiations. We had that last time and obviously the time before that and the time before that.

"There's no panic. It's just about those two parties getting together."