Death of mentor and great mate David Hookes put cricket into perspective for Darren Lehmann

THE death of David Hookes, 10 years ago tomorrow, reshaped Australian cricket because it redefined Darren Lehmann.

Life's pretty good out on the pitch as national coach Darren Lehmann laughs after winning the second ODI game be...

THE death of David Hookes, 10 years ago tomorrow, reshaped Australian cricket because it redefined Darren Lehmann.

The free-spirited, celebrate-the-moment style of cricket Australia has played this summer can be traced directly to Lehmann's appreciation that, for all the hype and hoopla that comes with modern cricket, it is still only a game.

The moment he fully appreciated this fact was when he lost his mentor Hookes.

"It changed my attitude,'' Lehmann told me about Hookes' death.

"I realised cricket was a game and life was more important. When you are at the ground you are driven by what you are doing but once that is done you can't change the past and you can't look too far forward.

"I don't think you ever get over it,'' he said. "I am a pretty emotional guy anyway. I cry in every bloody movie I watch.

"I don't mind players showing emotion. I don't mind them crying. You know they are hurting and what they are trying to do.''

Desperate cricket situations never seem as dire for Lehmann now.

That is why, when Australia was in crisis after his sudden appointment as national coach, he nonchalantly said to the players at their first meeting "no team meeting should last for more than 30 minutes. Let's have a beer. Captain shouts.''

It is also why Lehmann's preaches a "family first'' attitude to his players.

The last time Lehmann visited Hookes he initially struggled to say a word.

David Hookes during his days playing for Australia.

Hookes was on life support after an altercation with a bouncer on January, 18, 2004 outside the Beaconsfield Hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne.

Hookes, who had been drinking with Lehmann and several other players, crashed to the ground, struck his head and went into a cardiac arrest. He never regained consciousness.

When Lehmann finally started talking to Hookes in the Victorian hospital he could not stop, even though his words could not have got through.

For 20 minutes he spoke to his silent mentor, telling him he loved him and how he would never forget what he had done for him.

"When you are just there like that you say what you want to say,'' Lehmann said.

Lehmann initially could not bring himself to leave but after kissing his old mate and whispering goodbye he finally walked out to the echo of the ward doors closing behind him.

Hookes stayed so firmly in Lehmann's thoughts that months later he was batting in a Test and an image of Hookes flashed through his mind just as the bowler was about to deliver the ball.

A subtle message to move on came months after Hookes' death when Lehmann toured Sri Lanka, the only nation where Hookes made a Test century.

When Lehmann scored a Test century at Galle he shed tears and looked skywards.

Lehmann wrote in his autobiography: "It was as though 'Hookesy' looked down and said in his typical manner, 'You're right now mate, you don't need me any more, off you go, get on with it'.''