Affectionately nicknamed ‘Boof’, Australian coach Darren Lehmann is as popular a coach as he was during his playing days – a man everyone wants to have a beer with.
Lehmann now finds himself under intense scrutiny over the South Africa Test match ball tampering scandal, with the Australian public baying for blood.
With Smith sacked as captain and facing a possible life ban from cricket, Lehmann’s head could be next to roll, but this is not the first scandal he has been involved in.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘Boof’, Australian coach Darren Lehmann (pictured) is as popular a coach as he was during his playing days – the man everyone wants a beer with
Lehmann (pictured playing against Sri Lanka) now finds himself under intense scrutiny over the South Africa Test match ball tampering scandal, with the Australian public baying for blood
With Smith sacked as captain and facing a possible life ban from cricket, Lehmann’s head could be next to roll, but this is not the first scandal he has been involved in (pictured is Cameron Bancroft)
While playing for Australia in 2003 Lehmann narrowly avoided a life ban of his own, but for racism rather than cheating.
‘C***s, c***s, f***ing black c***s,’ Lehmann was heard shouting as he returned to his dressing room after being run out.
Lehmann was banned for five one-day matches for the outburst, after apologising to the Sri Lankan team both in person and in writing.
The batsman avoided a harsher punishment after the Sri Lankans declined to lay charges, and Lehmann insisted no damage had been done.
While playing for Australia in 2003 Lehmann (pictured with Steve Smith) narrowly avoided a life ban of his own, but for racism rather than cheating
‘C***s, c***s, f***ing black c***s,’ Lehmann (pictured with the Australia team – from right, Steve Smith, David Warner, and Usman Khawaja) was heard shouting as he returned to his dressing room after being run out
‘They’re [the Sri Lankan team] fine, they’re great, no dramas whatsoever,’ Lehmann said after the incident.
‘I do apologise to them – it was in the dressing room, the heat of the moment and out of frustration.’
More than 15 years later and the South Australian is back in hot water, this time over ball tampering that many insist could not have happened without his knowledge.
While Steve was fined 100 per cent of his match fee for authorising premeditated cheating and Cameron Bancroft was docked 75 per cent of his match fee, Lehmann is yet to be punished over the incident.
According to Smith, Lehmann and the rest of the coaching staff were not privy to the plan for Bancroft to use sticky tape in an illegal attempt to change the condition of the ball.
Lehmann is nonetheless a lightning rod for criticism among an Australian public increasingly fed-up with the team’s behaviour.
An often-jovial figure who has sought to lighten up the Australian dressing room, Lehmann has also been accused of allowing an aggressive team mentality to go largely unchecked.
During the 2013 Ashes – his first series in charge – Lehmann accused Stuart Broad of ‘blatant cheating’ for refusing to walk when he edged a ball to the keeper during the first Test.
Lehmann (pictured) was banned for five one-day matches for the outburst, after apologising to the Sri Lankan team both in person and in writing
‘From my point of view, I just hope the Australian public give it to him right from the word go for the whole summer and I hope he cries and he goes home,’ Lehmann said ahead of the home Ashes series later that year.
Australia’s 2014 tour of South Africa was marred by sledging which led Faf du Plessis to liken the visitors to a ‘pack of dogs’, while last year’s tour of India and the most recent Ashes series were also spiteful affairs.
David Warner was more recently sanctioned for an enraged off-field confrontation with Quinton de Kock, while Nathan Lyon copped a fine for his ‘ball drop’ send-off of AB de Villiers.
The incidents in Durban prompted a public rebuke from Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland, who admitted the Australian players had not acted within the spirit of the game.
More than 15 years later and the South Australian (pictured playing against Sri Lanka) is back in hot water, this time over ball tampering that many insist could not have happened without his knowledge
Sutherland noted at the time that Australia had been far from the worst offenders under the ICC Code of Conduct during Smith’s captaincy.
That will count for little in light of the far more serious transgressions that have come to light in Cape Town.
Former Test captain Michael Clarke said the revelations would reflect poorly on Lehmann, who will finish up in the job after next year’s Ashes series, regardless of whether he knew about the plan.
‘My fear is, if that’s the case [that he didn’t know], then the Australian head coach hasn’t got control of this Australian team,’ Clarke said on the Nine Network.
‘And if he does know about it, then he’s as accountable as anybody else.’
David Warner (pictured with Lehmann) was more recently sanctioned for an enraged off-field confrontation with Quinton de Kock