Take my spot: Lehmann

[pies4ever]

Take my spot: Lehmann
By Robert Craddock in Chennai
October 13, 2004

DARREN LEHMANN is contemplating the extraordinary step of standing down from the Australian side because he feels Michael Clarke should be in every Test team for the next decade.


Lehmann, who feels Clarke is a future Test captain, revealed his inner thoughts as speculation continued over who would be squeezed out of the side when Ricky Ponting makes an expected return from a broken finger in the third Test against India in Nagpur.

Clarke's 151 on debut at Bangalore last week has convinced Lehmann, 34, that he should discuss his future with the national selectors next week, despite a Test average of 49 and four centuries in his past 15 Test innings.

"I have always said I would not stand in the road of a young player," Lehmann said after arriving here for tomorrow's second Test.

"It might be the case that I do stand down. I haven't ruled that out. That's something I'll think about and talk about after this Test match.

"I would think Michael Clarke, if I was a selector – which I am not – should play every Test for the next 10 or 12 years. That would be my opinion.

"If a guy plays a genius knock like that in the first innings of his first Test and is earmarked by all of us to play well, you have to let him in at that stage.

"I have no problems in thinking I should play every game . . . but then there also comes the other side of my head that says, `Hang on, we've got a kid that can play for 10 or 12 years', and I'm all for that.

"I would think he's a bloke who could captain Australia in the future. If it is me that has to go, that's fine."

The most extreme consequence of Lehmann's likely offer is the loss of a Cricket Australia contract next year of about $650,000 – a brave step for a man with four children.

"It's not a generous decision at all," Lehmann said. "It's just a decision that sometimes has to be made by someone.

"Sometimes you have to make the decision for them (the selectors) because it's a lot harder for them to make. That's just the world we live in.

"It's an impossible situation. All I am saying is that if I was a selector, Michael Clarke would be playing the four Test matches.

"I don't think blokes should be playing on too long.

"It is a bit different to state cricket where you can help out some young blokes. But in international cricket, sometimes you might be holding up a spot for a young guy."

Lehmann said it was Clarke's demeanour as a person as much as a cricketer that impressed him.

"We always knew he was pretty special," Lehmann said. "We probably held him back for maybe a year or so to really make sure he was ready to play.

"He works bloody hard at the game and respects the game more than any other youngster that I've seen for a long time. He's fantastic.

"He just respects all the traditions of the game, respects his elders like no one. His manners are impeccable.

"He's just a young kid, but he's got an old mind.

"As a cricketer he's great, but the thing that wins me over is the way he is as a person.

"He's just a very, very good human being, just a very good young man.

"He just loves playing cricket and loves being around us old blokes and learning from us. He's always asking questions. He's like an encyclopedia, he just saps it all up and away he goes."

Australia yesterday had its first look at a red clay pitch expected to turn more than the first Test deck in Bangalore.

The Courier-Mail

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,11058623-23212,00.html

[Johnson#26]

Pretty unselfish. I woiuldn't drop him if I were a selcetor, drop Marto isntead. Too slow as a batsman.

[Fradam]

Can I take Shreks spot? I'd like to play

[Donny]

From Johnson#26:

When Ricky Ponting returns to the test side, who will be the man dropped to make way for him? Clarke, who is in great touch following a 151 on debut or the aging Boof, who has struggled in recent times.

No one would want to see Boof dumped, but the pressure is certainly on him.
_________________
What we are looking forward to in 2005

...The umpire throws the ball up, tapped out by Richards, down to Buckley, Nathan Buckley steams forward looking for ROCCA!!!!

[tazza2000]

It seem that the decision has been made with Boof suffering a Hamstring injury in the third test.

I really do hope that this isn't the last we see of him though.

You can bet your bottom dollar he'll be there for 20-20 matches.

[Johnson#26]

I doubt he will play in the first test. That actually gives him a chance. If someone fails/under performs in the 4th test in India before failing against the Kiwis in the first test on November 18, then they may come under pressure (Katich/Clarke), that will open the door for Boof. He is in our best 11.