Darren Lehmann has been the instigator of a reinvigoration of Australian cricket in just six months, since stepping into the hot seat vacated by the sudden sacking of Mickey Arthur.
The 43-year-old, who played 27 Tests from 1998 to 2004, has always been credited with a razor-sharp cricket mind. He saw enough during the July-August series in England to detect weaknesses in the England batsmen which he sought to exploit in the back-to-back series.
They were to prove prescient words as Lehmann got down to work devising plans for each English batsman. These were implemented to devastating effect by Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle.
Australia stymied skipper Alastair Cook's scoring shots on the leg side, while Kevin Pietersen was forced into errors by the nagging consistency of Siddle. Ian Bell's favoured late cut to third man, his chief scoring area when he made three centuries in the English series, was dried up.
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Lehmann wanted to take Australian cricket back to the golden eras of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, the Chappells and Steve Waugh of the 1970-80s.
He insisted on aggressive, in-your-face cricket and no one embraced this more avidly than Johnson, who disconcerted the England batsmen with his terrifying short-pitched bowling.
"He's has done a fantastic job, he's made us work hard, he's made us maximise our potential," skipper Michael Clarke said of the coach after wrapping up the Ashes with a 150-run win in Perth on Tuesday.