Yes, but no: Lehmann for England
Darren Lehmann may have decided that 25,000 first class runs were enough, but now he is making the move toward coaching. With a range of experience in Australia, England and India, as well as a pedigree at international level and an endorsement from Shane Warne, he was fast-becoming a credible candidate for the role of new England coach.
Come January 11th, he was happy to tell the Sun-Herald that:
"Yes, I'm interested," Lehmann told The Sun-Herald after Shane Warne went public with his belief that the ECB should target Lehmann ahead of the Ashes.
"It's something I would definitely consider. Shane Warne is a very good friend of mine and he knows what I want to do.
"You would never knock back an opportunity like that.
"I'm working with second-stringers at the moment and anyone would want to work with players at that international level. I'll talk to them if they want to talk to me."
That's fairly unequivocal, Darren, not to mention quite harsh on the Deccan Chargers he'll be working with, along with the Australia Academy team that he has been helping to coach – and to think he's been so positive about them in the past too:
"It's really enjoyable, and I can have an influence on them," he said. "I'm trying to up-speed them as players. I learnt most things after 30 as a player. Now I try to help them to do it in their 20s, so they reach their peak earlier."
Still, when the big job comes calling, you have to be ready and move on. The only exception comes when you reverse your comments 24 hours later, and pretend that you didn't say anything in the first place.
"The time is not right for me to coach England,"
And there we were thinking that he would never knock back an opportunity like that.
"I am flattered Shane Warne has mentioned my name”
A bit more than that, wasn't it? Shane mentioned your name, and then you mentioned it yourself. Shane was doing the right thing too, since he knows what you want to do.
“...but my sole focus right now is with Deccan Chargers."
... For today. Enjoy working with more of your second-stringers, Darren.
Sport without Spin - all work copyright of Mark and Rich 2008