It could get ugly for England in Australia

Darren Lehmann doesn’t take long to land his first blow on Bazball and England’s chances in this winter’s Ashes.

The former Australia coach, in charge during the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, is newly-installed as head coach of Northamptonshire.

As we sit in the pavilion at Wantage Road, he doesn’t pull any punches when asked if his cricketing philosophy has much in common with that of England coach Brendon McCullum.

“I love the way Bazball’s gone about it,” he says.

“It certainly entertains the people.

“It only works in certain conditions, but somewhere between that and normal cricket you’ve got a pretty good mix.”

So are England – with 13 defeats and two draws in their last 15 away Ashes Tests – kidding themselves if they think they can win Down Under this winter?

“Well, they haven’t won a Test match for 15 years, have they?” Lehmann says.

“They’ve got a chance. Everything will have to align. If they play one gear they won’t win.

“But they’re forming a side that can be dangerous.”

England have failed to win both their biggest series since McCullum and captain Ben Stokes came together three summers ago – drawing 2-2 at home to Australia in 2022 and losing 4-1 in India last year.

This winter, and the high stakes of an Ashes series, makes Lehmann think that the wrong result in Australia could bring an end to the Bazball experiment.

“I think England will win their home summer against India,” he tells The i Paper.

“But the directions both countries go in will be defined by what happens in the Ashes. If Australia lose there’ll be a real stocktake of what’s been happening. But they’ve been playing well and they are well led.

“England lose, Bazball probably goes. England win, Bazball stays forever. It’s just the way it goes.”

England will be aiming to achieve what they haven’t managed since 2010-11 – win in Australia.

And Lehmann thinks conditions might play in their favour if rumours that Australia are going to pull away from preparing the spicier pitches they have provided in recent home summers are true.

“England have got an outside chance,” Lehmann says.

“The whispers are that Australia are going to play on flat wickets which I don’t necessarily agree with.

“Just make them like they were last winter [when Australia beat India 3-1] – they were still flat but did a bit and that’s enough to worry England’s batsmen in our conditions.”

Key will be the middle-order engine room of Stokes, Joe Root and Harry Brook.

Lehmann, who coached Brook in the first year of the Hundred in 2021, says: “He’s a superstar. They need him to play really well. If Root and Brook actually make hundreds in a few Tests in that series they can win it.

“Root will be four, Brook five and Stokes six? If those three have a good series they can win it. On the flip side, if they don’t then it could be ugly.”

Ugly has been the theme of England’s past three Ashes series in Australia, Lehmann overseeing 5-0 and 4-0 defeats in 2013-14 and 2017-18 and Justin Langer guiding the hosts to another 4-0 win in 2021-22.

Whether McCullum can change the narrative this coming winter remains to be seen.

But Lehmann thinks the New Zealander has possibly bitten off more than he can chew taking on the England white-ball job as well at the start of this year.

And regardless of how the Ashes go, Lehmann thinks it’ll be tough for McCullum to stay in the job until the end of his contract in 2027.

“It’s a lot,” he says of the all-format role. “I did it a year too long.

“I did it five years. Should have only been four. You should coach no longer than four in international cricket, I don’t care who you are.

“He’s probably got an Ashes and another home summer then it just gets too hard. It’s lots of fun and the best job in the world and Baz is a good bloke. He’ll be saying it’s the best job in the world. But it gets to the stage where it’s too much.”

As for Australia, Lehmann doesn’t believe this team need to win the 2027 Ashes in England to cement their legacy.

Having drawn their 2-2 on their last two Ashes visits to England, Australia have not won an away Ashes series since 2001.

“You only have to hold the Ashes so I don’t subscribe to that theory as much because England haven’t held the Ashes for 10 years now,” Lehmann says.

“We’ve played pretty well here with two 2-2 draws.

“It’s just the narrative the public want to go with. They love the fact Australia haven’t won. I just go, when you win the Ashes come and speak to us.”

As for Lehmann, the 55-year-old has stated he sees Northants as his final coaching job in the game.

“I don’t see myself coaching anywhere else after here,” he says.

“We signed two years at the moment because we didn’t know whether we liked each other or how it’d work but it’s been really good.

“I can see myself finishing my coaching days here.”