Yorkshire CCC: Son of White Rose legend joins squad

Darren Lehmann, left, will be hoping his son enjoys his spell at Yorkshire under coach and good friend Jason Gillespie, right

Lehmann, 24, has joined for the remainder of the Championship campaign after fellow Australian Travis Head was called-up for his country’s tour of Sri Lanka.

Lehmann, a left-handed batsman just like his father, is available for the last six games and will make his debut against Lancashire at Old Trafford on Saturday.

But regulations prevent him from being parachuted into the knockout stages of the Royal London Cup and the NatWest T20 Blast, with Yorkshire having reached the quarter-finals of both competitions.

Jason Gillespie, the Yorkshire first-team coach, recommended Lehmann, having worked with him at Adelaide Strikers during the winter.

“Getting a player of quality is always difficult at this stage of the season, and we’re delighted to secure the services of Jake,” said Gillespie, who is a close friend of Lehmann senior.

“Things happened pretty quickly, triggered by Travis being called into the Australia squad, and hopefully he goes on to get a game for them.

“Cricket Australia were fantastic to deal with, and co-ordinating with South Australia (Lehmann’s state side) went fantastically well, and we were able to arrange for Jake to come over.

“He’s a great kid, gives the ball a whack and has shown good nous and awareness, and having worked with him at Strikers, I know he’ll fit into the changing room too.”

Lehmann has only played 11 first-class games but averages over 40 and has hit three hundreds, with a top score of 205 against Tasmania at Hobart last November.

If he goes on to enjoy a career even half as good as his father, he is destined to receive plenty of plaudits.

In 88 first-class games for Yorkshire between 1997 and 2006, Lehmann senior scored 8,871 runs at an average of 68.76, with a top score of 339 in his final innings against Durham at Headingley - just two short of George Hirst’s county record.

In List A cricket, Lehmann made 5,229 runs in 130 appearances at 49.33, with his top score of 191 against Notts at Scarborough in 2001 still a record for the club in one-day cricket.

Lehmann junior has been playing for Australia A and is due to leave Adelaide for England on Wednesday.

He joins a Yorkshire team gunning for silverware on three fronts, with the club having reignited their Championship challenge with a win against Warwickshire that lifted them to third in the table, 14 points behind leaders Middlesex with a game in hand.