Darren Lehmann has been appointed the head coach of Brisbane Heat, for his first coaching role since stepping down from the top job with Australia.
Lehmann has been signed on a two-year contract, returning to the Big Bash League team for a second stint, having already coached them to a title win in 2012-13. He replaces Daniel Vettori, who decided not to renew his contract after the last season.
Following Lehmann’s departure, extensive Cricket Australia-sanctioned reviews revealed the “toxic” culture in the national side under Lehmann’s watch. The former coach admitted he was hurt by the findings but saw it as a backlash to the ball-tampering episode.
“Yep (it did hurt) … because against England when it was 4-0 (in a home Ashes serious earlier that year) there was no attack on culture then,” he said.
“We understand that that’s what happens (the backlash) when something like that (ball-tampering) happens. I don’t want to go too much into it to be honest; it’s time we move forward, it’s happened, can’t change it.”
