Boof Bats On

Darren Lehmann, the one time nuggety lefthander, aka “boof”, “shrek” and the Australian cricket coach has received a one-year contract extension.

The dismissal of Lehmann’s predecessor Mickey Arthur was ugly. Dressing room dramas and a forgettable tour of India were missiles in a final over that sent Arthur’s pegs flying.

Boof took guard and within seven months, helped to orchestrate a five-nil Ashes series whitewash and a hard-fought series win in South Africa.

Whilst many a cricket tragic could KISS the coach for helping to turn the national team’s fortunes, Lehmann just prefers to Keep It Simple Stupid. For that is his philosophy. Play in-your-face, ball-tearing, run-feasting, aggressive cricket. Take the game to the opposition and don’t die wondering.

Skill, entertainment and clubbing the ball were Lehmann’s hallmarks during his playing days for South Australia, and Australia. He scored 44 tons at state level.

“There was no bogey team for Boof, he just accumulated runs, as always, in an entertaining fashion,” says one-time teammate Damien Fleming. At the time of Lehman’s retirement in 2007, Damien Fleming writing for The Age, said “Boof was the archetypal Nerd prototype. One of the most naturally talented nerds ever, he was hefty, balding, loved a beer and smoked like a chimney. He liked to think of himself as Bruce Willis' stunt double. But the boys dubbed him "Shrek" — not only did he look like the cartoon character but he actually turned green when he heard the words beep test or drinking ban.”

While Boof might hopefully draw the line at swinging his hips and dancing Warney style on the balcony at Lords after a win, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a few durries in the change room and perhaps a game of poker before the game, is there? It seemed to work for that other legend Dougie Walters, didn't it? 45 first-class tons!

Don’t be deceived by the coach’s baby-blue eyes. There’s a steeliness in the blue that is sure to thwart the opposition when Aus and NZ to host the World Cup in 2015 and during the test series to follow in West Indies and India.

The mouthing of simple slogans such as “enjoying cricket”, “winning games” “mateship”, “togetherness” and “not being afraid to make mistakes” coming out of the coach’s corner, it’s pretty safe to say that with Diehard coach Darren Lehmann in charge, the Aussie cricketers wont die wondering in their run chases for glory.