Primarily an aggressive left-handed batsman, Lehmann was also a part-time left arm orthodox bowler, and gained renown for his disregard for physical fitness and modern dietary regimes.

[6] Of German-Australian descent, Lehmann was a junior representative for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club Central District as well as playing cricket.

Lehmann left school at the age of 16 to work on the assembly line of Holden car manufacturers in Elizabeth, South Australia.

[1] Lehmann entered the first-class scene as a 17-year-old in the 1987/88 season for South Australia, playing one match against Victoria at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after both Tim May and Peter Sleep were called into the national team.

Lehmann made his mark in the following match against New South Wales Blues at Adelaide Oval, reaching 50, but the innings was marred by the manner in which it was ended.

However, Richards and South Australian captain David Hookes claimed that Lawson had tripped Lehmann, leading to a confrontation between the two teams.

Having scored over 700 runs in the first half of the season, Lehmann was drafted into the Australian squad for the New Year's Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground after both openers David Boon and Geoff Marsh were injured.

Lehmann believed that he had a better chance of international selection, feeling that selectors disregarded batting performances at Adelaide Oval on the perception that it was a flat track.

[citation needed] From the 1993/94 season until 2007/08, Lehmann played domestic cricket for his home state, South Australia, as well as for Yorkshire in England (from 1997 until 2006).

[citation needed] His body shape, relative lack of fitness and physical condition, while never dulling his run-scoring capabilities, meant he was never a favourite of the Australian hierarchy, and notably never saw eye-to-eye with former coach Bob Simpson in the early-mid-1990s.

[citation needed] With Simpson's retirement at the end of the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Lehmann made his ODI debut later in the year in Sharjah after injuries to other players.

Selectors were impressed with his performance, [citation needed] and when Waugh returned from injury on the tour of Pakistan later that year, Ricky Ponting was instead dropped.

Ponting was recalled by the selectors, under the justification of "horses for courses", as he was regarded as a superior player of pace bowling but weaker in spin, with the first two Tests being held on bouncy wickets in Brisbane and Perth.

Captain Steve Waugh took the opportunity to introduce a rotation system for the ODI series, and Lehmann was allowed regular matches as all members of the team were periodically rested.

Despite topping the averages and Steve Waugh having the lowest among the batsmen during the round-robin stages of the triangular tournament, Lehmann was dropped for the finals series, as he was the least senior batsman in the team.

Lehmann did not receive further chances in the Test format either, as Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn and Simon Katich were all recalled in 2000 and 2001 when other players were dropped.

There, Lehmann scored consecutive centuries on turning tracks against Muttiah Muralitharan to help Australia to a 3–0 clean sweep despite conceding a first innings lead in each of the matches.

However, the return of Andrew Symonds, Rohit Sharma regaining form, and the continuing exuberance of Captain Adam Gilchrist, bolstered the side.

Some luck came the Charger's way towards the end of the league stage, with Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals losing key matches, enabling Deccan to reach the semi-finals.

Nevertheless, and against the odds, Gilchrist scored a sensational 85 off just 35 balls to put the Daredevils out of the competition, thus giving the Chargers their first IPL final against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

In the second innings the Chargers came out with all guns blazing right from the first ball, and their spirited effort ensured that they successfully defended the total, winning the game by 6 runs and lifting the prized IPL trophy.

Deccan finally got to play IPL matches at their home ground after almost three years, but their dismal performances continued at Hyderabad, with but a single win against RCB being the only exception.

However, in the away matches, the Chargers did manage to beat Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors, and Kings XI.

In the 2012 Indian Premier League competition the Deccan Chargers named a new fielding coach Trevor Penney, replacing Mike Young.

The team experienced weakness in the bowling and fielding departments, with fast bowler Ishant Sharma being ruled out due to injury, and spinner Pragyan Ojha traded to the Mumbai Indians.

Lehmann expressed interest in taking up the England coach's job, which was up for grabs after Peter Moores was sacked in first week of January 2009.

As well as previously coaching the now defunct Deccan Chargers franchise, Lehmann had also played for the Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural IPL edition in 2008.

In June 2013, Lehmann was appointed as head coach of Australia, replacing Mickey Arthur who had suffered a bad result in the Champions Trophy.

[21] Lehmann was suspected of involvement in altering the conditions of the ball, along with Cameron Bancroft, skipper Steve Smith, and vice-captain David Warner, on the third day of the third Test against South Africa on 24 March 2018.

Lehmann was noted for his play against spin, and was a useful left-arm orthodox spinner himself, as evidenced by his match figures of 6/92 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2004.