Ashes 2013: England to step up security in Australia after Darren Lehmann's outburst

Broad revealed on Monday that the Australia coach has apologised to him for his remarks, but England will still be taking no chances.

“It is utterly deplorable for any attempt to endanger the physical safety of any player of any nation whether on the pitch, the boundary, or relaxing away from the cricket,” said Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.

“It is absolutely unacceptable and we will seek the proper safety for players. I’m sure the Australian authorities want the tour to be conducted in a peaceful and jovial manner.”

Andy Flower, England team director, also confirmed that there would be extra security in light of Lehmann’s comments, though he also stressed how the last Ashes tour to Australia had been a good experience on and off the field.

“It’s something we’re taking very seriously,” said Flower yesterday. “We enjoyed our tour of Australia last time, there’s always a little bit of barracking and what have you. In the main it’s fairly good natured and I’d hope it’ll be the same this next trip.”

The extent of reinforcement is not yet known and the England and Wales Cricket Board will await the recommendation of Reg Dickason, its security officer. All that a spokesman would confirm is that there would be no budget constraints on Dickason.

England usually have Dickason and one other security officer on tour with them, their duties ranging from getting the players on and off team buses, to planning the routes of those buses from hotel to ground, and escorting players to restaurants in the evening or on shopping trips by day. The thought is there will be at least one more addition to their retinue at a cost of at least £70,000 per person.

Although Flower likes his players to feel they are up against the world, he does not want them to be insular and become trapped in their hotel rooms. Added security will enable players to go out individually or in different groups.

Broad angered Australia’s players and public alike when he did not walk after clearly edging the ball in the opening Test at Trent Bridge. He then tried to justify his actions in a media interview before the final Test, which provoked Lehmann into making comments for which he was later fined £2,000 by the International Cricket Council.

“I hope the Australian public give it to him right from the word go for the whole summer,” Lehmann said. “And I hope he cries and goes home ”

The Australia coach apologised to Broad for the comments after the Test series ended on Sunday. "Spoke to Darren Lehmann. He apologised for his comments, I accepted. He said they were made in jest for banter. Done," Broad tweeted yesterday.

Lehmann also promised to learn from the experience. "It was a good learning curve for a new coach, wasn't it?" he said.

"You know, it was a jovial setting but you've got to learn from that. The players aren't on their own in trying to improve, coaches have got to improve so that's something I've got to get better at."

Australia usually makes tourists feel very welcome – and 50,000 fans are expected for the next Ashes series – but the worry is that Broad, whose 6ft 6in frame and blond hair helps him cut a distinctive figure, might be fair game for the odd patriotic “Hoon” to have a go at. It happened to John Crawley in Cairns on the 1994/5 tour when he was punched to the floor by a local man for no apparent reason other than that he looked Irish.

On that same tour occupants of the MCG’s infamous Bay 13 lobbed snooker balls at England’s players during a one-day international there. Australia tends to frown on such behaviour these days but the worry is that Lehmann’s comments might have provided enough “incitement,” in the words of the ECB, to bring them out of their lairs.

Australia's coach has been vilified in the Australian press. What has not been addressed is the role of the radio stations in provoking responses like his. Lehmann spoke to Triple M but it was another station, 2 Day FM, which instigated the royal prank last December when their two presenters, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, posed as the Queen and the Prince of Wales to inquire at a clinic about the Duchess of Cambridge’s morning sickness.

The prank made global headlines and was followed by the suicide of Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse who fielded the call from the two pranksters.

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Ashes 2013: England's Stuart Broad accepts apology from Darren Lehmann

Lehmann was fined 20 per cent of his match fee for the fifth Ashes Test for describing, during a radio interview on the eve of the match, Broad's refusal to walk after an edge in the series opener as "blatant cheating".

But the England man said the matter was now closed. Broad wrote on Twitter: "Spoke to Darren Lehmann last night. He apologised for his comments, I accepted it. He said they were made in Jest for banter. Done."

England took a series besieged by talking points 3-0, with Lehmann at the heart of some of them.

Speaking to Australian radio station Triple M about Broad last week, Lehmann also called on the Australian public to "get stuck into him" when England tour this winter, adding that he hoped the seamer "cries and goes home".

England were not moved to report the incident to the International Cricket Council, but ICC chief executive Dave Richardson laid a charge himself and Lehmann pleaded guilty to "publicly criticising and making inappropriate comments" about Broad.

He accepted match referee Roshan Mahanama's proposal of a 20 per cent fine - about £2,000 - which meant no formal hearing was necessary.

Lehmann has insisted he would learn from the Broad situation. "I've had a chat with him already. We just move on," he said. "It was a good learning curve for a new coach, wasn't it? You know, [it was] a jovial setting but you've got to learn from that. I've got to learn and improve from that.

"The players aren't on their own in trying to improve. Coaches have got to improve so that's something I've got to get better at."

Despite the 3-0 defeat and the criticism received following the radio interview, Lehmann still has a passion for the role and is looking forward to the remainder of the tour in England.

"I'm still loving it, it's a great job," he added. "I'd like to win a Test match, but it's a fantastic job. I've seen all the players here, and the one-day and Twenty20 players are starting Thursday, so you get to deal with them and look at how we're going in that format of the game as well.

"By the end of the tour I'll have a really good mindset on all the players which will be quite comforting for me as coach. The players seem to be enjoying it which is good but we also realise we need to win some games."

Having replaced Mickey Arthur barely a fortnight before the opening Test at Trent Bridge, Lehmann believes he has not had time to stamp his own philosophy on the Australia team but expects that to change when England travel Down Under for the return series.

"It is really hard when you've just come into the set-up and the touring side's been picked," Lehmann added.

"When we're back home you'll probably see different things happen, but in terms of hearing a lot of things from outside and not being in that circle for many years, to come in and see how they're trying to improve all the time - that was impressive for me. Now it's a matter of improving that skill level to compete better than we have."

(Editing by Robert Dineen)

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Ashes 2013: Australia coach Darren Lehmann promises to wield axe after under-achievers are thrashed

Jackson Bird, James Faulkner and David Warner, who will return from Australia A duty in time for the third Test, have also been told they could be needed as the selectors scramble for a winning formula.

"I say all the time the whole 18 have a chance to play," Lehmann said.

"I'm not ruling anything out. That is what happens when you have two losses, every option is open.

"As selectors Rod (Marsh), John (Inverarity) and I will have to speak about it and see where we come to.

"Ashton (Agar) is a bit sore and I don't think he will play in Sussex so Nathan Lyon will play obviously. Then we just have to look at the wicket (at Old Trafford) because history shows it spins a bit.

"If it's going to spin we will certainly have a look at two spinners. Wade will play in the tour match too."

England have already banked three centuries in the series, two to Ian Bell and a maiden Ashes hundred to Joe Root, but Lehmann conceded Australia's batsmen have proved far too flimsy.

"We have certainly got to bat better, we know that," Lehmann said.

"It's probably more of a mental thing. We need to make sure we're ready to go...have a good time down in Sussex, play some decent cricket and bat a lot longer than 90 overs.

"We had two guys get to 50 at Lord's but 50 isn't going to get us to where we need to go. Clarke and (Usman) Khawaja batted really well but they need to make hundreds when they get to that position, just like young Root did."

Australia's tour has been marred by a series of off-field issues, including the sacking of former coach Mickey Arthur just 16 bays before the Ashes and reports of a rift between Clarke and opener Shane Watson.

But Lehmann has told his players to stop looking for excuses.

"We actually need to get some results because that would stop all the talk and make people realise we are going the right way," he said.

"We can't worry about what anyone else says or writes. We accept the criticism, we deserve the criticism to be fair."

Meanwhile, England's only problem is the fitness of Kevin Pietersen, who was unable to take the field in Australia's second innings after suffering a left calf strain.

England batting coach Graham Gooch admits the selectors will look at potential replacements for Pietersen because they can't guarantee the South-African born star's availability.

"Whether he will be fit for Old Trafford...he'd be in doubt," Gooch said. "I'm sure there will be some cover supplied."

However, asked if Somerset's Nick Compton - dropped ahead of the Ashes to allow Root to open in his place alongside England captain Alastair Cook - was the most likely candidate, Gooch added: "I'm not a selector, so I couldn't give you an indication to whether he would be the next cab off the rank or not."

Edited by Thom Gibbs

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