Darren Lehmann
John, Jane and Cosi
Missed the show? Listen again to the very best bits of the brekky show with John, Jane and Cosi.
John, Jane & Cosi Features
Matt Hardy
The comedian defines what it is to be totally Oz
Darren Lehmann
The wonderful Boof said his farewells
Oz Idol 07 - Natalie Gauci
The latest Oz Idol spoke about her win
Mike Hussey
All around cricketing legend Mike Hussey chatted to John and Jane
The Chaser
Chas from The Chaser is looking forward to the election
Bye bye to Boof!
Memories of Shrek
Bye bye to Boof!
Darren Boof' Lehmann is an out-and-out South Australian legend.
As a teen he was a junior representative for Central Districts as well as playing cricket, before leaving school at the age of 16 to work on the assembly line of Holden car manufacturers in Elizabeth, South Australia. He decided not to attend the newly formed Australian Cricket Academy, citing his enjoyment of the factory life, then made his debut for SA as a 17 year-old in the 1987/1988 season, playing one match against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 1988/89, he returned against Western Australia at the WACA Ground. But Lehmann would remember little of his return, as he was struck in the right temple by a Bruce Reid bouncer, knocked unconscious and temporarily ceased breathing. Lehmann made his mark in the following match against New South Wales at Adelaide Oval, reaching 50, but the innings was marred by the manner in which it was ended. Going for a quick single, Lehmann collided with bowler Geoff Lawson and was run out after falling over - South Australian coach Barry Richards and captain David Hookes claimed that Lawson had tripped Lehmann, leading to a confrontation between the two teams.
In 1989/90, Lehmann came into contention for national selection, after scoring 228 runs at the age of 19 in a match against Victoria in the 1989/1990 season. He also scored a century against the touring New Zealand cricket team and followed that with three consecutive centuries in three Sheffield Shield matches. Having scored over 700 runs in the first half of the season, Lehmann was drafted into the Australian squad for the New Year's Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground after both openers David Boon and Geoff Marsh were injured. As Lehmann was not an opener, Mike Veletta and Tom Moody were selected and he was relegated to being 12th man. It would be a long time before Boof returned to the Australian side.
After a short dalliance with Victoria, in which he played in a victorious Shield side in 1990/91, Lehmann continued to be productive upon his return to his native State from 1992/93 onwards, playing in the winning 1995/96 Sheffield Shield side.
Boof made his One Day International debut later in 1996, and his Test debut in the 3rd Test against India in March 1998 in Bangalore, after Steve Waugh suffered a hamstring injury. Boof was never able to really cement a place in either side, being used in very much a horses-for-courses policy, but he was a vital part of the 1999 World Cup win in England, and played some stellar innings both at Test and ODI level. He ended up playing 27 Tests at an average of 44.95, with 5 100s and 10 50s, and a top score of 177, and took 15 wickets at 26.46. He finished playing 117 ODIs, at an average of 38.96, with 4 100s and 17 50s, and a top score of 119, and took 52 wickets at 27.78.
Playing for South Australia, Lehmann has scored over 10,400 runs in 106 first class appearances for the club, at an average of around 55. He has made 36 centuries with a top score of 301 not out against Western Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2005/2006. He has also taken 42 wickets at an average of 38.69. He held the record for the most first class runs scored and first class games played before selection to the Australian test team prior to Michael Hussey's test debut in 2005, and currently holds the record for the most runs in the history of the Sheffield Shield/Pura Cup with 12,804 - nearly 2000 runs more than the second highest run scorer, Tasmania's Jamie Cox.
Lehmann announced his retirement on the 19th of November 2007 citing injury concerns as the main reason behind his decision to quit, and ended his limited overs career for South Australia on the 21st of November with an unbeaten 126 from 104 balls in an unbroken 236 partnership with Matthew Elliot (a South Australian record for any wicket in List A cricket) to complete the largest successful run chase in Australian List A cricket so far. His final Pura cup appearance will be in the game against Western Australia starting on the 23rd of November.