Darren Lehmann: I’ve had counselling over ball-tampering incident

Tearful exit | Darren Lehmann cannot hide his emotion during his resignation speech following the scandal of the Cape Town Test
AFP/Getty Images
Tom Collomosse31 October 2018

Darren Lehmann has revealed he is having counselling to deal with the ball-tampering scandal that brought about his resignation as Australia coach.

Lehmann had already departed when three players — captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batsman Cameron Bancroft — were handed long bans for their roles in ‘Sandpapergate’, when Bancroft used sandpaper to try to alter the condition of the ball during a Test against South Africa at Cape Town in March.

The reputation of Australian cricket was in the gutter after the incident and Lehmann, who left in tears at the end of that series, admitted today he is struggling to come to terms with what happened.

“I saw people, and am still seeing people about it,” he said. “That’s a work in progress. I don’t think people know how much it affects people behind the scenes, but that’s one of those things that you go through. The help of family and close friends got me through.”

Smith and Warner were banned for 12 months, Bancroft for nine. It means all three would be available for next summer’s Ashes in England, where Joe Root, the England skipper, has warned Warner to expect a feisty reception from the home crowds.

Players’ union bosses have this week been working to try to have the suspensions shortened, following an independent review into Australian cricket that criticised the behaviour of those who run Cricket Australia.

The board were blamed in part for the incident and accused of allowing an “alpha male culture” to flourish and harm the game. Lehmann was criticised heavily by media pundits in the wake of Cape Town for failing to sanction his players for on-field misconduct.

While there has been no move at this stage to reduce the length of the penalties, Lehmann, who has been coaching at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Brisbane as well as undertaking occasional media work, is among those to call for greater leniency.

The former Australia player told the Sydney Morning Herald: “I think they [the trio] should be back, but it’s up to the board to make that decision, not me. I think the general feeling around Australia — certainly the people I talk to — is they want them playing again, at least in domestic cricket.

“Now the findings have come down, they should be reviewing the sanctions on the three players.”

Lehmann added: “It was a tough time and you had bad days and good days — and I’m sure all those other three blokes (players) had worse days.

“You just hope they get the right help, that everyone gets the right help when they need it. There could have been more help, but they certainly didn’t just leave us hanging, either.”

The review also suggested certain Australia players were guilty of behaving rudely towards team staff during matches, but Lehmann denied any knowledge of this.

“That might have been before my time,” he said. “I didn’t see that in my time. They were always respectful and I didn’t have a problem with that.

“You’re a family travelling around. Some of that has been hurtful, saying the culture is not great, because it’s not too bad.”

Under Lehmann’s replacement, Justin Langer, and new captain Tim Paine, Australia have just completed a tour of the Untied Arab Emirates, where they were beaten in Test and Twenty20 series by Pakistan.

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