England is on the brink of already losing this year’s Ashes, while a series whitewash could also be on the cards and the knives have quickly come out.
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Jobs are “on the line” for the remainder of the series according to English press, while Darren Lehmann declared Bazball died in Adelaide.
“Done, finished, gone,” he said on ABC Sport.
But that wasn’t all Lehmann had to say. Rather, the former Australian head coach made headlines after a stunning claim which has cast doubt on just how systemic England’s issues are after a failed tour down under.
Lehmann was asked at the end of play on Saturday what he thought was behind England’s struggles to produce spin bowling, with the issue only further cast into the spotlight after Shoaib Bashir’s omission in this year’s Ashes series, with the 22-year-old overlooked in favour of all-rounder Will Jacks.
In response, the now Northamptonshire coach made the stunning claim that he has “never” spoken to or seen a selector at county cricket.
“The problem with Division One cricket is they all play for draws, so the bonus point system makes it flat,” Lehmann told BBC’s Test Match Special.
“Get your points, you stay up. You know, if you get lucky and have a good day where the ball’s overcast and (it) swings around and you knock them over, you win the game.
“Division Two is a little bit different. You’re playing for results but you’re still actually playing on flatter wickets that don’t spin as much. You’ve got Dawson who’s quite good, we’ve seen him a bit, Leach is good at Somerset. There are a few spinners there, it’s just who you pick.
“Bashir, I watched him bowl the last two days and they said he’s low on confidence, but what I see is an attacking spinner that can actually get wickets.
“So, sometimes you’ve just got to bite the bullet and play the guy if you think he’s the best.”
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England spin bowling coach Jeetan Patel said Jacks was selected over Bashir because they were “backed into a corner” by the team’s batting struggles, telling TNT Sport at the end of the third day at Adelaide that the tourists “needed that extra batting cover”.
But Lehmann then shone a light on why the problem may go far deeper.
“Now, that’s a selection issue, and the selectors – who are the selectors, by the way? Because I’ve not seen them in my time at county cricket,” he said.
“I’ve never spoken to a selector, I’ve never seen a selector and I’m a county coach. Unbelievable.”
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