Aussie coach Lehmann asks players to avoid speaking about England batsman's illness during 2nd Test
Australia will be committed to a vow of silence about Jonathan Trott’s troubles, when Ashes hostilities resume in next week’s second Test.u00a0Coach Darren Lehmann made it clear on Saturday that, whatever other topics are considered fair game for ‘sledging’ in Adelaide, his players will not be mentioning the subject of Trott’s departure from England’s Ashes tour with a stress-related illness.
Jonathan Trott
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Lehmann confirmed too that — although David Warner has received no official disciplinary sanction for his press-conference criticism of Trott — Cricket Australia have “dealt with” that matter.u00a0England previously stressed their satisfaction that Warner had no inkling about Trott’s personal troubles when he described his batsmanship as “poor” and “weak” after two cheap dismissals against Mitchell Johnson — Australia’s match-winner in their trouncing of the tourists at the Gabba.
Lehmann nonetheless said: “I have spoken to David, and we have dealt with that in-house. He understands where the line is. I think he said himself he crossed the line.u00a0“We know where we can go to a certain extent.u00a0“If you cross that line, obviously the ICC (International Cricket Council) take over — and Cricket Australia.”
Australia do not appear minded to tone down their combative verbal approach - but they are happy to make Trott references off limits.u00a0“We want to play that brand that is quite hard and aggressive, as we always talk about - but not cross the line, play it fair,” added Lehmann.u00a0“Obviously, we didn’t know what was going on with Jonathan Trott - and that certainly won’t be talked about in this Test match at all.
Darren Lehmann. Pic/Getty Images
“We wish him all the best in his recovery... Jonathan Trott, we’re not talking about this Test match.”u00a0Australia have already announced they will stick with a winning 12-man squad - and Lehmann has confirmed Plan A is to retain seamer Ryan Harris, despite suggestions the hosts might want to conserve his fitness for later in the series. Whoever takes part, Lehmann has warned Australia cannot begin to think the job is done at this early stage.
‘England will come hard’
He added: “It’s just one Test match.u00a0“So we have got to play well, back that up and show we’re the side we want to become — not just ‘one-hit wonders’, if you like.u00a0
“(We want to) play a brand of cricket that is strong, competitive — each and every day, each and every session — and if we do that, we know we will get the results.u00a0“But we can’t just rest on our laurels after one Test.u00a0“They will come back really hard. We know England are a good cricket team.”
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