Darren Lehmann replaces sacked Mickey Arthur as Australia coach

Darren Lehmann was on Monday hailed as the quotobvious choicequot after replacing the sacked Mickey Arthur as Australia head coach just 16 days before the first Ashes Test in England following several embarrassing on and offfield incidents involving the team quotThe timing is far from ideal but we didn39t feel we could sit back and hope matters would change without addressing issues critical to a highperforming team culturequot Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland told a news conference in Bristol southwest England Darren Lehmannu00a0 who coached Kings XI Punjab in the IPL and the nowdefunct Deccan Chargers is currently coaching Australia A in England PicAFP quotIt obviously isn39t the type of change we want to make three weeks out from the Ashes commencing but we believe a change is needed quotMickey Arthur is a good man he39s tried his utmost to do a good job and unfortunately at the end of day he just hasn39t quite done that quotWe decided things weren39t improving we could let things be as they arequot Sutherland praised former Australia batsman Lehmann who played 27 Tests as the quotobvious choice to replace Mickeyquot quotAs a cricketer and a coach he has an outstanding record he39s very highly regarded in cricket and within the Australian teamquot said Sutherland of Lehmann who was appointed on a twoyear deal quotHis performances recently as coach of Queensland and the Brisbane Heat have seen him win titles in all three formats of the game quotWe39ve recognised that by giving him development opportunities as a coach most recently as assistant coach to the Australia A team here in Englandquot Sutherland also confirmed that Australia captain Michael Clarke currently sidelined with a back injury would stand down as a selector South African Arthur the first foreignborn coach of the Australian team when appointed in November 2011 appeared to have paid the price for a 40 Test series loss in India a poor Champions Trophy campaign and a lack of discipline within the squad This culminated with an incident which saw David Warner punch England39s Joe Root in a bar in Birmingham central England after Australia39s Champions Trophy loss to their archrivals earlier this month Warner was fined Aus11500 11000 and suspended until the start of the Ashes Several others players were with him in the bar in the early hours of the morning raising concerns the Australian squad39s conduct It followed vicecaptain Shane Watson James Pattinson Mitchell Johnson and Usman Khawaja all being dropped during the India tour this year after failing to submit feedback requested by Arthur The former Australia coach whose Test record since taking over in 2011 was 10 wins six losses and three draws maintained he didn39t feel let down by his players Mickeyu00a0Arthur who was appointed as coach in November 2011 had a contract till the end of the 2015 World Cup Captain Michael Clarke left has stepped down from selection panel PicAFP quotThe reality is when you take a job on as head coach you are responsible for the outcomesquot Arthur told reporters quotI don39t feel let down At the end of the day you live and die by the sword I gave it 100 percent The disappointing thing is I think we were nearly there to cracking it quotWe handled the Warner incident by the bookquot he added quotNobody likes losing their job I39ve given this job 100 percent commitment and if it wasn39t good enough so be itquot Arthur said he would like to see some quotreal standardsquot all the way through from Under19 level Clarke flanked by Lehmann in the third of three backtoback news conferences said quotWe have a less experienced team after losing Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting to retirement but that39s not an excuse quotWe know the behaviour required to be an Australia cricketer We know what performances are expected of us and we need to improve in both areas quotI39m certainly accountable both onfield and offfield as captainquot Clarke explaining why he39d stood down as selector said quotBeing a selector is a fulltime job and I39d much prefer to be concentrating on the boysquot He added he39d been stunned by Arthur39s sacking quotLike everybody I was shocked at the time and then it was about trying to keep my focus on having success on this Ashes tourquot Clarke said quotThat39s the most important thing that we make sure we are performing a lot better than we have so far on this tour and a lot better than on our most recent tour to Indiaquot The 43yearold Lehmann has a reputation as an oldschool coach keen to encourage his players to socialise together quotIt39s important to talk about the game whether it39s with a beer or a Diet Cokequot Lehmann said Monday England hold the Ashes and Lehmann asked what his three priorities were replied quotProbably win win win39 for a start quotIt39s going to be an exciting journey for all the players and support staff and we39ll meet that headonquot