Darren Lehmann wasn’t part of the conversation when it came to deciding England‘s Test coach. Well, even if he wasn’t, he’s ruled himself out. Lehmann, who was Australia’s head coach from 2013 to 2018, has stated that he hasn’t received any offers from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), and even if he did, he wouldn’t have accepted.
Lehmann was a prolific player for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 2000 to 2006, scoring 6327 runs at 71.89. Following his retirement in 2008, the southpaw batter turned to coaching and has been Northamptonshire County Cricket Club’s head coach since October 2024.
Lehmann joins Flower, refuses England head coach job
During the Northants vs Somerset match in the Vitality Blast, Lehmann was asked whether he’d be interested in leaving the County team, with whom he’s under contract until the end of the 2029 season, to replace Brendon McCullum as England’s Test coach.
As mentioned above, neither Lehmann nor the ECB is interested. But he believes that the coach has already been decided. He thinks the ECB wouldn’t have removed/sacked McCullum unless they had someone in line already, considering Pakistan will tour England in August.
“I’m very happy coaching Northants… and I haven’t had any phone calls! If you remove someone mid-summer, you’ve got somebody in mind. I’m enjoying my role here, and it’s an interesting process they are going through at the moment in England cricket,” Lehmann told Sky Sports Cricket.
Reports have suggested that the ECB had finalised 9 candidates to replace McCullum as England’s Test coach. However, one of them has already ruled himself out. That was Andy Flower, who is the head coach of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and London Spirit in The Hundred.
Mike Hesson is currently associated with Pakistan as their white-ball coach. Kumar Sangakkara is the Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach in the IPL. Tom Moody and Justin Langer are associated with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and their sister franchises. Reports have suggested that Langer is a strong contender, but nothing’s certain yet. At the moment, the ECB doesn’t seem to have many options, and Lehmann has ruled himself out as well.
Candidates to take over as England’s next Test coach
- Justin Langer, Richard Dawson, Jonathan Trott, Kumar Sangakkara, Stephen Fleming, Tom Moody, Mike Hesson, Adi Birell
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