Jake Lehmann, Dad could step down as Australia coach if I was picked

Jake Lehmann has revealed that his father, Darren, could quit as Australia coach if he was selected for the national side.

Speaking about the Lehmann’s father and son relationship, Jake told James Buttler for his new book ‘Following On - In the Footsteps of Cricketing Fathers’ that the pair would find it difficult to work together in the same Australian dressing room.

Excerpt from ‘Following On - In the Footsteps of Cricketing Fathers’ by James Buttler…

It was mid-November 2016 and the Darren Lehmann coached Australian side had lost the second Test against South Africa by an innings. They’d been bowled out for a mere 85 on day one. The home nation’s press described them as the ‘Worst XI Ever’ as they furiously sharpened their knives. Heads were going to roll.

As the media speculated on potential for fresh faces, Lehmann’s son Jake was mentioned. He’d begun the Sheffield Shield campaign well with South Australia and it was a legitimate question – ‘would Jake Lehmann be considered for the third dead rubber Test?’

“I don’t sit in on anything when they talk about Jake,” Lehmann responded. “I don’t sit on the panel and I don’t know what they’re saying about Jake.”

And if Jake were to be selected? “I’m not involved and I’d be that nervous anyway I probably wouldn’t be coach. I’d actually just go to the bar.”

That final line was delivered with a mischievous grin. Lehmann senior had a reputation for liking a beer and a cigarette. But he could hit a cricket ball, as his 27 Tests and 117 ODIs for Australia testify. His 25,628 career first-class runs at 57.59, mostly for South Australia and Yorkshire, established him as one of the all-time greats. He remains the record run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield.

Those final lines to the media were seen as funny. ‘Aussie coach to watch son from bar’, ‘Son to drive coach to drink’ ran the headlines.

So what surprised me, when I spoke to Jake Lehmann two months later, was his Dad had not been joking. The line may have been delivered with a twinkle in the eye but, if Jake were ever to play for Australia, there actually was every chance that Darren would get out of the way and step down as national coach.

“That’s one thing that we have spoken about,” Jake told me when I asked whether it would be strange to play for Australia with his father as coach. “I think a lot of people get perceptions, but sometimes it’s harder to have the old man in a role like that.

“He doesn’t want to be the one that makes the call on me. He wants other people to do it. Once again I think that’s just a dad being a dad. He’s always been like that – make your own way and if you’re good enough, you’re good enough.

“If it came to that, I don’t think we’d be in the same side as each other,” Jake continued. “It would be very strange. I think it would be a very hard concept to figure out dad versus player. I don’t think either of us would like to be in that situation.

“We’re just trying to make it clear that I’m playing cricket because I love cricket and I’m making my own way. It’s not about doing it by yourself, but earning your own stripes and he’s very supportive that way.”

When I had finished the interview with Jake I grabbed a coffee. I’d spoken to Jake early evening Adelaide time so it was still early morning in the UK. I sat down, played the audio and began to transcribe his quotes. When I got to the paragraphs you’ve just read I rewound the audio and listened again.

Was Jake saying his dad would resign as Australia’s head coach if he were ever selected to play for the national team? That could be next week, month, year, or never, but even so, that was quite some admission.

Was it a father prepared to sacrifice his country’s top job to give his son a fair crack or was it a father unable to separate family from work? I also wondered whether Darren’s departure could have the reverse effect and increase the media spotlight on his boy. From whichever way I looked at it, this was huge.

In my chat with Jake I’d not taken it all in. Instead I’d told him of an interview I’d done with Alec Stewart and suggested a father and son sharing an international dressing room had worked before.

“I guess if it works it works and if everything goes well then it’s fine,” Jake said unconvinced. “I don’t know if you asked Alec Stewart if he could go back and have the opportunity for his dad not to have been the coach, then I don’t know if he would have liked that or not.

“But that’s the way we look at it,” he said. “We don’t want to give people the perception that dad is interfering with his son’s chances of selection. To us cricket is work and you make your own way, do your own things and just enjoy it.”

While I appreciate Michael Parkinson never reappeared on your television set an hour after the credits had rolled to recall a guest to his sofa so he could ask a question that had entered his head after the show, I messaged Jake asking for confirmation. ‘Were you saying your dad would step down as coach if you ever got picked?’

Jake responded: “Yeah I think he would think about it! But who really knows until something actually happens.”

There was a decent chance Jake would follow Darren into Australian colours, every likelihood the family name would become the fourth added to a small list of multi-generational families that have represented Australia at international level.