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Lehmann’s coaching techniques have impressed Haddin
Australia vice-captain Brad Haddin has announced that newly appointed coach Darren Lehmann needs to get the current Ashes squad up to scratch and quick as the first Ashes Test looms over the horizon.
Lehmann was recently hired after Cricket Australia started getting sick and tired of all the controversy the players got themselves involved in under Mickey Arthur’s tenure.
However, despite Arthur’s departure, Haddin remains confident that Lehmann will guide the team to greatness as he has developed quite a reputation across Australia for being one of the best coaches around.
“We’ve got to be accountable as a bowling group and as a batting group,” Haddin said. “All of us as a batting group, there are obviously areas we need to improve in our game, and I’m pretty confident we’ll go in the right direction. The bottom line is we’ve got to perform and I’m comfortable with where this group’s at. We’ve got the best cricketers in Australia here and I’m comfortable we can move forward with that.”
Haddin also noted that the players have to bear some of the responsibility for Arthur getting fired as their silly controversies put him in hot water with Cricket Australia.
“It’s not something that we have to deal with every day, the loss of a coach,” Haddin said. “But from our point of view we’ve got to make this a fresh start. We can go over what’s happened as much as we want an analyse what’s gone on but the bottom line is we’ve got to move forward as a cricket team and we’ve got to start performing.
“It’s obviously disappointing for Mickey. He’s put a lot of time and effort into this team, but it’s a fresh start and we’ve got to make sure we’re in the right frame come that first Test. We as a group have to be accountable for where we want to take this team, and we’ll see how successful that is. We’re pretty comfortable now with moving forward. It’s not hard to be motivated by this tour.
“I don’t think a day like this is needed to remind everyone of how high the stakes are playing for Australia. This is cut-throat, this is the pinnacle of what we all do as coaches, players, support staff, everyone. And one thing with this group I’ve noticed – we’re a very talented squad and as guys we just need to move forward as a cricket team and become better as a team moving forward and I’m very confident that can happen.”
Haddin himself was recently recalled to the Australian Test side as captain Michael Clarke was in desperate need of more veteran players in the team, especially after the retirements of both Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey.
Haddin also reminisced about the days when he used to square off against Lehmann as both players used to captain their respective domestic teams.
Despite their history, Haddin has been watching Lehmann train the team over the past few weeks and admitted that he was impressed with what he had seen so far.
“It was an enjoyable A tour, we got out of it exactly what we needed leading into this series,” Haddin said. “We had a lot of players at different stages in preparation, guys on their first tour, guys getting ready for the Ashes, and Darren and Troy [Cooley] were very positive about the cricket we wanted to play and that we wanted to win three matches. Darren was very aggressive in his approach there. He wanted us to get the game moving forward and win cricket games. That’s what we did.
“We’ve sat down as a group and planned what we want to do over the next couple of weeks leading into the first Test. As a group we’re pretty clear on what we want to do, we’re at different stages as players, but we’re all on the same path here trying to get to this first Test. It’s a new start.”