Darren Lehmann escaping punishment when he was seen communicating with a walkie-talkie is the definition of good fortune in sport
SunSport's cricket correspondent John Etheridge thinks Darren Lehmann is a lucky man to still have a job
IF you want the definition of good fortune in sport, look no further than the bald bloke surreptitiously speaking into a walkie-talkie.
It is Darren Lehmann, head coach of the Australian cricket team, who says he knew nothing about his players’ attempts to tamper with the ball.
Yes, that’s right. Nothing. Zero. Zilch.
Even though, when pictures of Cameron Bancroft fiddling with yellow tape flashed on the giant screen in Cape Town, Lehmann was straight on the radio to Peter Handscomb.
Twelfth-man Handscomb then ran out to Bancroft to warn him he’d been rumbled.
Let’s say the walkie-talkie business was innocent and he genuinely was in the dark about the Aussies’ dark arts — Lehmann should still have lost his job.
He is the man who has overseen, and indeed encouraged, the culture that makes Australia the most hated team in world cricket.
Sacked captain Steve Smith and especially attack dog, former vice-captain — should that be captain of vice? — David Warner needed mentoring and guidance.
They needed their excesses curbed and told what is right and wrong.
Instead Lehmann, 48, let Warner off the leash, apparently not remotely concerned as he launched savage and often deeply personal sledges at opponents.
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Mind you, Lehmann has previous. He once called the Sri Lankans “black c***s” and, in 2013, went on radio to encourage Aussie fans to abuse Stuart Broad. Now he has the hypocrisy to complain when a South African fan had a pop at Warner.
As it is, Smith, Warner and Bancroft have flown back from South Africa in disgrace with the promise of heavy punishment while Lehmann remains in charge.
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Bearing in mind that Shane Warne was banned for a year for taking an illegal substance and Mohammad Amir for five years and a prison sentence for bowling deliberate no-balls, the trio are looking at a lengthy period out of the game.
The climate is tense with sponsors demanding action, Aussie Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull weighing in and Cricket Australia in the early stages of trying to negotiate a new TV deal. It could cost the game Down Under tens of millions of pounds.
That makes the survival of Teflon-coated Lehmann even more surprising.
And are we seriously expected to believe only three players knew about the ball- scuffing plan — even though Smith said it was concocted by the “leadership group?”
As Michael Vaughan said on Twitter: “My a***.”
Warner is reportedly increasingly isolated from other players and, before the team flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg, removed himself from a players’ WhatsApp group. He was seen at the hotel drinking champagne with non-cricket friends.
Veteran Aussie cricket writer Robert Craddock wrote: “When Warner is banned, there will not be a single tear shed for him by anyone at Cricket Australia. Many of those in high office cannot stand him.”
England head coach Trevor Bayliss, meanwhile, believes the Aussies had it coming because of their aggressive, hypocritical approach to cricket.
Bayliss admitted he is “embarrassed” to be Australian in the wake of the scandal.
He used to coach New South Wales and knows Smith and Warner well.
But, like many others, he has been appalled at Australia’s pious attitude in recent years — where they dish out verbals but cry foul if they receive anything in return.
Bayliss said: “As an Australian, I’m embarrassed.
“Steve is a lovely young bloke who has made a terrible mistake.
“It’s nothing to do with us but it will be interesting to see what Cricket Australia come up with.
“I think a lot of what they’re copping at the moment comes from the way they’ve played their game.
“It’s almost like teams and people around the world have been waiting for them to stuff up so they can lay the boot in.”