Nimble footwork. Soft hands. A killer eye. And a pull shot to die for. Darren Lehmann was the fun-loving powerhouse of Australia's middle order.
For much of his playing career, though, Lehmann's story was one of power without glory. He was Australian cricket's odd man out, the champion-in-waiting the selectors forgot about.
In his own blunt way in Worth the Wait, Lehmann tells his story: of his excitement when he was named 12th man for Australia at 19, of his anxieties as he spent the next eight years in the wilderness, and of his sweet joy at finally, belatedly, making it into the Australian cricket team. It was made all the sweeter by the fact he waited so long for it.
It is the story, too, of an old-style cricketer in a modern world. Lehmann admits to being the last of a dying breed: he loved a beer, hated the gym and was not afraid of carrying a little extra padding around the middle. Invited to attend the Cricket Academy as a teenager, he said no because he was having too much fun working on Holden's assembly line.
Lehmann talks of his mateship with Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting, and the loss of his hero and confidant David Hookes.
It is a tale of runs and run-ins, of friends and foes. It is Lehmann's story of his playing career. Honest, poignant, funny, compelling and well-told.
