Worth the Wait: The story of my playing career

Description

The appointment of Darren Lehmann as Australia's head cricket coach was a shock after the removal of South African, Mikey Arthur, as national coach. Here in Darren's Lehmann's autobiography of his playing career, we can reflect on who Darren is and how Darren was shaped by his playing career - and why perhaps the team and Australian fans have taken to him so completely. Darren Lehmann was a highly respected batsman. But for a long time he was a champion-in-waiting. Named 12th man for Australia at just 19, he waited 8 years in the wilderness for a chance in the national team. When he was finally called up to the team he understood the high standards and responsibility that representing Australia demands. Worth the Wait, is a revealing look at the values that have underpinned Darren Lehmann's career; the special moments that led to World Cup wins; he discusses his mateship with star players, Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting; and the tragic death of David Hooks, his hero and confidant. A tale of runs and run-ins, friends and competition foes, in turns funny and compelling - Worth the Wait is a story of a player with old-fashioned values that are truly Australian.

Darren Lehmann was a prolific run-scorer at domestic level in Australia and England before becoming coach of the Australian cricket team. As a free-scoring left-hander, Lehmann treated spectators to an audacious mixture of aggression and deft finesse. Due to the abundance of talented batsmen in Australia in the 1990s and early 2000s Lehmann had played more first-class games and scored more runs than any other Australian (except Mike Hussey) before making his Test debut in 1998. He establishing himself in the Australia side at 33 with a maiden hundred at Port-of-Spain in his tenth Test, and then two against both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the next 12 months. Lehmann was more often in Australia's one-day international team and in 1999 he hit the winning runs in the World Cup final and he was also a key member of the side that defended the title four years later.