![\"clarke1011\"](\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/clarke1011.jpg\")
Nottingham: As Australia counts down the final hours till the first ball is bowled in a bumper back-to-back Ashes Series, cricket.com.au sat down with Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke to reminisce about their past playing days and also discuss how their relationship works now as Coach and Captain.<\/p>\n
Lehmann and Clarke first played together for Australia in 2003 and went on to play seven Tests and 18 ODIs.<\/p>\n
It had been well documented that Lehmann was prepared to step down from the Australian squad to allow young players, like Clarke, to come through the ranks; something that Clarke remembers well.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought if it meant him standing down for me to stay in the team then he was willing to do that, which was very nice for me as a young 23-year-old. I certainly didn\u2019t expect that and I was more than willing to sit back and wait my turn because he was a great player and I enjoyed playing with him,\u201d Clarke said.Read More\n<\/p>\n
Lehmann also recalls Clarke\u2019s early days in the Australian side.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was exciting at that age and the way he played the game, with that attacking brand of cricket and that certainly hasn\u2019t changed over the years,\u201d said Lehmann.<\/p>\n
Clarke spoke of his connection with Lehmann since they stopped playing together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always stayed in contact with him and every time we are in Queensland I have seen him and caught up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have really enjoyed the last week, it\u2019s been nice to get back and spend some time with him and talk about cricket. As a young kid in the Australian team I used to spend a lot of time with him and sit and talk and learn about all the great things about cricket, and its been nice this week to re-live a few of those memories,\u201d Clarke said.<\/p>\n
Both Coach and Captain recognise what one other brings to the team and also what similarities they share.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our minds, in regards to the way we play on the field, are very similar. He was quite an aggressive player who liked to keep the game rolling and I think we have a lot in common there,\u201d Clarke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael will have a big input in the day-to-day running of the team and out in the field the coaching staff will certainly let him run it his way. He is an aggressive player as we know and an aggressive Captain, which is pretty much what I like anyway,\u201d said Lehmann.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has done a great job so far with the captaincy role and now he can just concentrate on that. We have become very close very quickly and we are going in the same direction,\u201d Lehmann added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nottingham: As Australia counts down the final hours till the first ball is bowled in a bumper back-to-back Ashes Series, cricket.com.au sat down with Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke to reminisce about their past playing days and also discuss how their relationship works now as Coach and Captain.<\/p>\n
Lehmann and Clarke first played together for Australia in 2003 and went on to play seven Tests and 18 ODIs.<\/p>\n
It had been well documented that Lehmann was prepared to step down from the Australian squad to allow young players, like Clarke, to come through the ranks; something that Clarke remembers well.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought if it meant him standing down for me to stay in the team then he was willing to do that, which was very nice for me as a young 23-year-old. I certainly didn\u2019t expect that and I was more than willing to sit back and wait my turn because he was a great player and I enjoyed playing with him,\u201d Clarke said.Read More<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket-cricket"],"yoast_head":"\n