Darren Lehman is the most powerful coach Australia has had since Bob Simpson

NOT since Bob Simpson has an Australian cricket coach been as powerful, now Darren Lehmann must bring the band together.

Michael Clarke

DARREN Lehmann is the most powerful cricket coach Australia has had in two decades.

Often the true powerbrokers in sporting teams are not the headline makers, but the ones who use their clout silently, selectively and subtly behind the scenes, amid the occasional public tub-thump.

There have been traces of all of these in Lehmann's one-series reign as Australian coach since dramatically taking over from the sacked Mickey Arthur just before the first Ashes Test in England.

Lehmann will have more say in what happens around him than any Australian coach since iron-willed Bob Simpson remoulded Australia's cricket culture between 1986-1996.

Simpson was the first man to hold the position of national coach after a period when Australia went 14 Tests without a win.

The comparison is significant because, like Lehmann, Simpson's power was rooted in the fact that the SS Australia had water flooding through every porthole when he took the job.

Like Lehmann, Australia needed Simpson more than Simpson needed Australia. There was no one else in the country at the time suited to the job anywhere near as much as these two.

Michael Clarke

Few things solidify a man's power base than being the only serious alternative. The other four coaches used between these two eras (Geoff Marsh, John Buchanan, Tim Nielsen and Mickey Arthur) came into the job when Australia's stocks were either soaring or at least better than they are now.

When handed the job it was almost as if they should have been privileged to accept it.

There was an unspoken assumption that they could feel free to do some deft interior decorating but don't worry about a major renovation because we are - well, Australia - and we go pretty well.

But the game's changed.

With Australia having lost three Ashes series in a row Lehmann has a powerful mandate for change after accepting the job with a few hours' notice in England.

It is not a bad thing Lehmann has substantial influence because of an obvious yet underrated fact, he knows what makes a cricketer.

Like a lot of sports, cricket is finding its way in the hazy, confusing world of sports science and the jury is very much out on the merits of the guidance modern fast bowlers get from sports scientists who might be experts on body movement, but who may also think a new cherry is something you buy at a fruit shop.

The fact that Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird, James Pattinson and the rarely sighted Pat Cummins are all broken down with lower back injuries must raise questions as to whether they could be managed better.

It is Lehmann's job to cut through some of the newfangled theories and apply old-fashioned commonsense.

You don't put coaches like Simpson and Lehmann into a system and say, “Now would you please not rock the boat.''

You either go with them and their philosophies or don't hire them. Lehmann won't get everything he wants, but he should not be disappointed too often.

Already his fingerprints have been seen on several key decisions. On the very day Lehmann was appointed, Michael Clarke stood down as an Australian selector.

It was rumoured but never confirmed that Lehmann wanted this to happen. Certainly he later fully endorsed the move.

A couple of days into the job, he announced Shane Watson would open the batting in the Ashes and he effectively put the kibosh on the controversial rotation policy by saying of the best fast men where fit they would play.

Just last week Craig McDermott returned as Australia's fast bowling coach, a Lehmann-endorsed move no one could have predicted when McDermott left the same position for personal reasons not long ago.

Like Lehmann, McDermott can talk to his players with a qualified firmness about the demands of the job because he has done it himself at the highest level.

The power of the Australian coach has ebbed and flowed during the past 37 generally bountiful years.

It was never stronger than when Simpson was in charge, but it waned under the likes of Nielsen to the point that the Argus review recommended the coach be made a selector to increase the respect they got from the players.

Lehmann's challenge will be to cut to the chase in a team which is not short of varied opinions.

Australia's entourage in England was so big that there were almost as many support staff members as players.

Australia are desperately short of future leadership options and one theory is that teams are so well looked after that players simply follow their daily matrix and never learn to think outside the square.

Recently I went to an Andre Rieu concert where at one point he had around 30 people on stage with him, about the same number as the Australian ensemble in England.

As always, Rieu and his band members played in perfect symphony, that is now Australia's challenge.