For a moment, the startled look on Darren Lehmann’s face suggests he has just spotted an England selector lurking in the shadows at Wantage Road. In fact, his attention has been grabbed by a hailstorm – a sign, perhaps, that the county season is little over a week away.
When it begins, Lehmann – the straight-talking Australian about to embark on his second season as coach of Northamptonshire – is confident the lines of communication between England and the counties will have improved, following ECB managing director Rob Key’s pledge to pay more attention to runs scored and wickets taken in the domestic game.
Then again, as far as Lehmann is concerned, the lines could hardly have become any more blurred. Just before Christmas, with Australia about to retain the Ashes in Adelaide, he vented his spleen on Test Match Special: ‘Who are the selectors, by the way? I’ve not seen them in my time in county cricket. Can someone tell us, please? I’ve never spoken to a selector and never seen a selector, and I’m a county coach. Unbelievable.’
The dig did not go down well with Key, but the point had been made, with Lehmann especially infuriated that Saif Zaib, the Northamptonshire middle-order batsman who last summer scored more first-class runs – 1,425 – than anyone in the country, had not been chosen even by England Lions.
That seemed to reinforce an old stereotype: if you play for a smaller county, you’re better off moving somewhere bigger to catch England’s attention. Take Ben Duckett, who reignited his international career only after leaving Northamptonshire for Nottinghamshire.
‘That was the case previously,’ Lehmann tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘I don’t think it will be the case moving forward. The sheer weight of media and fans want the best players playing. You’ve seen that come out over the last few days, where they’re going to respect county cricket a bit more. That’s a really good thing.’
‘I think you’ll find there will be a better connection now between the counties and the ECB,’ says Northants head coach Darren Lehmann
Lehmann was infuriated when Saif Zaib, the Northamptonshire middle-order batsman who last summer scored more first-class runs than anyone, was overlooked by England Lions
He adds with a chuckle: ‘I’ve been speaking to the selectors of late. Funny that – you normally get phone calls where you cause a bit of controversy. But I think you’ll find there’ll be a better connection now between the counties and the ECB.’
That could be good news for Zaib, whose six championship hundreds in 2025 were the most for the club since Lance Klusener in 2006. At 27, he believes his best years are ahead of him. But are they necessarily at Wantage Road, where he made his first-team debut at the age of 15, and where his contract expires in two summers’ time?
‘It’s home for me,’ he says. ‘If there was ever an opportunity to leave, it would be pretty tough. I don’t want to say never, and you look at someone like Ben Duckett, who moved to a different county – and look where he is now. But he succeeded by scoring runs. If I can do the same this summer, hopefully that will get me noticed.’
Zaib was disappointed not to be chosen for either of the Lions’ winter tours, to Australia and the UAE, but says he did get a call from Luke Wright – then the national selector – at the end of last season, telling him he was on the right track.
Lehmann explains what the selectors eventually told him about Zaib’s non-selection: ‘They said they didn’t think Australia suited the way he played, which I actually understand a little bit. He’s going to improve his play against fast bowling.
‘But I didn’t agree with not taking him to the UAE, because he’s such a good player of spin. They want him to bat higher, which is fair enough as well, so we’ve just got to facilitate that.’
Lehmann, who coached Australia for five years until resigning over the sandpaper fiasco in 2018, has a foot on both sides of the Ashes divide, and commentated on the recent series for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Asked where he thinks England went wrong, he doesn’t hesitate: ‘Oh, preparation. Their preparation was non-existent. You can’t go to Australia and not play first-class games, then play at Lilac Hill but not the WACA.
‘If you don’t do the prep and don’t play well, that’s a no no. But I think they’ll learn from that,’ says Lehmann of England’s Ashes planning
Ben Duckett, pictured with Brendon McCullum (right), reignited his international career only after leaving Northamptonshire for Nottinghamshire
‘They played really well at the back end of the tour, which was no surprise because they’d had some good, hard cricket, but it was too late. Preparation is an easy one. If you do all the prep and don’t play well, that’s OK. If you don’t do the prep and don’t play well, that’s a no no. But, again, I think they’ll learn from that.’
What about England’s decision to stick with Brendon McCullum, despite the 4–1 defeat? ‘I’m OK keeping the same people,’ says Lehmann. ‘But then those people probably shouldn’t say: “We’ll be judged on the Ashes.” That’s the problem you’ve got. They haven’t won the Ashes for 11 years. You’re starting to get to the stage where, if you don’t win it in 2027, you probably won’t win next time in Australia, and then it’s a long time.
‘I think they’ll beat New Zealand and Pakistan this summer, and then everyone will be looking forward to the Ashes the following year. That’ll be the big testing point. If they lose, then it will have been the wrong choice not do anything now. If they win, it’s fine.’
Might Zaib become part of the story? ‘I’ve told him his challenge is to make more hundreds than he did last year,’ says Lehmann. ‘Once you do that, the selectors can’t ignore you.’
For the first time in a while, it is a sentence that can be uttered with conviction.
