Lehmann wants to coach England, gets 'influential' backing

Sydney, Dec 3 (UNI) Amid increasing pressure on Duncan Fletcher to quit, Darren Lehmann has revealed his desire to coach England and the former Australia player is said to have the backing of some 'influential' Englishmen for the top job.

''It's something I'd love to do. If the opportunity came up to coach England, I'd certainly want to do it,'' Lehmann was quoted by the 'Sunday Telegraph' as saying.

Lehmann has admitted to being approached by former England player Darren Gough for the job but side-stepped queries on whether it was an official offer from the ECB.

''That's between Goughie and I. If it hasn't happened it hasn't, if it has, it has. Although I have played a lot of cricket with Darren and he knows what's going on in English cricket,'' he said.

Lehmann said he would relish becoming the first Australian in 129 years to take charge of the old enemy.

England have never had an Australian coach and only three Aussies have played a role in coaching English cricket. The most prominent being Troy Cooley and legendary Dennis Lillee, who have been bowling consultants with the England team.

Lehmann has reportedly received the backing of some influential England and Wales Cricket Board members and the Aussie says he is open to any offer from the ECB.

''To be perfectly honest, you never say never, do you? I know the England players quite well. At the moment, I've got a lot of things on and I'm still playing cricket, which makes it difficult to coach anyone,'' he said.

''But I've always had coaching ambitions. I'd like to think I know the game well enough and I can work with players well enough. If you can do that, you can do some coaching at various levels. I can't imagine a better stage than to do it at an international level,'' he added.

Fletcher has been under fire for England's dismal ODI performance and many former players, including former captain Geoffery Boycott have called for his ouster saying that the 58-year-old has outlived his shelf-life.

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