'Brilliant' to have Darren Lehmann back in county cricket says Yorkshire CCC head coach Anthony McGrath

McGrath was appointed Yorkshire head coach on a five-year deal that began in November.

Next month, Lehmann will start work in the same position at Northamptonshire, having been awarded a two-year contract.

“It’s brilliant,” said McGrath as he relished the prospect of coming up against his old friend and team-mate.

“I’m really pleased that ‘Boofer’ is back.

“He has been a huge help to me in my career – not just as a player, but as a coach as well.

“He’s always someone I sound out if I need anything, or to talk, and to have him back in the game is just great.”

Lehmann, who turns 55 next month, coached Australia to two Ashes wins and a World Cup triumph.

He has had plenty of success in franchise cricket, in India and Australia, plus a spell with the Headingley-based Hundred side Northern Superchargers.

Lehmann’s appointment is a major coup for Northamptonshire, who are currently in Division Two of the County Championship, the Australian replacing John Sadler, who is now the batting coach at Yorkshire.

It means that McGrath and Lehmann will not face-off next season in four-day cricket, but their sides will meet in the T20 Blast at Headingley on May 30, and also in the One-Day Cup at Northampton on August 8.

“We play against them in T20 and 50-overs, so we’ll be looking forward to those games, for sure,” added McGrath.

“I just think it’s great for Northants and great for English cricket in general to have ‘Boofer’ here.

“Adam Hollioake (the new head coach) at Kent is another big positive, another ex-player who’s got really good leadership qualities.

"I just think it’s a really good thing for the county game.”

McGrath, 49, is around two months into his new role at Headingley, having helped Essex to two Championship titles, a T20 Blast crown and a Bob Willis Trophy triumph during his nine seasons of coaching at Chelmsford.

As a player, he was one of the best that Yorkshire have produced in the modern era, scoring 22,714 runs and taking 230 wickets for the county across 583 appearances in all formats between 1995 and 2012.

For his part, Lehmann was quite simply the greatest overseas player in Yorkshire’s history, perhaps in any county’s history, during an association that ran from 1997 to 2006.

The left-hander hit 8,871 first-class runs for the club at 68.76 – signing off with a remarkable 339 against Durham at Headingley – and 5,229 one-day runs at 49.33; he also chipped in with 140 wickets with his left-arm spin in those formats combined.

McGrath and Lehmann shared many a fine partnership – most notably, perhaps, 317 for the third wicket in the Roses match at Headingley in 2002, when McGrath struck 165 and Lehmann 187.

They also put on 172 for the third wicket in a one-day fixture against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough in 2001.

That was one of the most extraordinary innings of Lehmann’s career, the left-hander striking 191 from 103 balls, with 20 fours and 11 sixes, still the highest individual score in Yorkshire’s one-day history.

McGrath contributed 38 to that stand as, like the rest of the crowd at North Marine Road that day, he looked on in astonishment as Lehmann played T20 ahead of its time just two days after Yorkshire’s first Championship title for 33 years.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire have announced that the funeral of Howard Clayton, their former second XI scorer, will take place at 1pm on January 22 at Lawnswood Crematorium in Leeds.

Mr Clayton, a cricket man to the core, died on December 1, aged 72, and will be sadly missed.