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Australian Darren Lehmann has promised a brand of cricket “people love to come and watch” after taking over as Northamptonshire’s head coach.
The 55-year-old brings vast experience to the role after agreeing a two-year contract last October.
He coached Australia’s national team from 2013-2018, and guided teams to titles in the Indian Premier League, Sheffield Shield and Big Bash, as well as coaching Northern Superchargers in the first season of The Hundred in 2021.
Lehmann has joined a Northamptonshire side relegated from Division One of the County Championship in 2023 and without a trophy since their second T20 Blast win in 2016.
The former Test batter told BBC Radio Northampton that although the Blast is a priority for the club, he wants the team to be successful in all formats and play in a way that is “sustainable for years to come”.
He said: “I know the profile is probably higher in the Blast but I want us to compete for trophies in all three and that’s going to be the challenge for the playing group, to be able to adapt and change depending on formats.”
‘They bent over backwards to make it work’
Getty ImagesLehmann was working in TV commentary when the initial overtures were made by Northants, who parted company with his predecessor John Sadler following a quarter-final defeat in last season’s Blast and decided not to promote from within.
“I wasn’t looking to get back into coaching and then (Northants all-rounder) Dave Willey rang, and then (CEO) Ray (Payne) rang and then (former chairman) Gavin (Warren) rang, all the people involved.
“I said if you want me there for 10 months (each year), I can’t do it. They said ‘we’ll take whatever you can give. If you can get here for seven months, great’ and I said ‘I can leave straight after our summer so that’s seven-and-a-half, eight months, that’s all I need anyway’ and they bent over backwards to make it work,” he said.
“It certainly wasn’t about the money or the contract length or anything like that. It was about working with good young men who want to get better.”
Working with one of the smaller county clubs was also part of the attraction for Lehmann.
He continued: “I’ve been involved with Australia and state teams and big systems and it was nice to tackle something more community based, more friendly, less pressure, to educate and help the blokes get better at cricket and become better people on and off the field.
“With a smaller club, you’ve got restrictions on finances and what you can and can’t do on budgets, but one thing I do know is they’re probably more passionate than bigger counties. They’re love for the game is unbelievable.”
Breetzke back for start of season
Getty ImagesLehmann said that although he had turned down other counties in the past, the timing was right on this occasion and ultimately, it was a “no-brainer” to accept the head coach role.
“Cricket is the easy part. We’ll get them playing decent cricket and they’ll entertain and play a brand that people will love to come and watch and I hope they’ll go ‘wow, that’s a good team’. We haven’t changed too much in terms of personnel, but my job is to get them better,” Lehmann said.
Opening bat Emilio Gay and paceman Jack White have left the club to join Durham and Lehmann’s former club Yorkshire respectively.
But they will benefit from having South Africa’s Matthew Breetzke available for their first eight Championship Division Two games and have also re-signed Australian all-rounder Ashton Agar for the T20 Blast.
Lehmann, who needed a triple bypass after a heart attack five years ago, is confident he has already established an excellent rapport with the squad ahead of a pre-season trip to South Africa.
“We haven’t changed much in terms of personnel. We’ll work through the year and work out what works and what doesn’t and make some inroads into a sort of different playing group later on in the year,” said the man once nicknamed ‘Boof’.
“But there’s no reason these kids can’t play for England. That’s my job, dare I say it as an Aussie, to actually get blokes playing for England, that’d be a big goal of ours and then obviously to win games and ultimately win trophies.
“They go hand in hand. If you play well as a said, you get noticed by the England selectors. So for me, it’s about development, coaching, guiding, (being a) father figure if you like, grumpy man occasionally, all those things.”
Northants start their first Championship game of the summer on 4 April when Kent, who were relegated last season, will be the visitors to Wantage Road.
