Yorkshire hope it will be case of like father, like son with the signing of the South Australia batsman Jake Lehmann as their overseas player for the remainder of the season.
The 24-year-old follows in the footsteps of his father, the current Australia head coach Darren Lehmann, who enjoyed seven seasons at Headingley from 1997 to 2006, scoring over 14,000 runs and averaging 68.76 in first-class cricket.
Lehmann Jr replaces his fellow Australian Travis Head, following the latter’s call-up to the national side’s tour of Sri Lanka, and could be available to feature in Yorkshire’s Roses fixture with Lancashire at Old Trafford, starting on Saturday.
A left-handed batsman, Lehmann enjoyed his breakthrough season for South Australia during their most recent Sheffield Shield campaign, scoring 623 runs in 14 innings, including three hundreds and a career-best 205 against Tasmania that earned a call-up to the Australia A side.
The move to Headingley links him up with the head coach, Jason Gillespie, having previously played under him for the Adelaide Strikes in Australia’s Big Bash League.
Yorkshire, the title-holders, are currently third in the County Championship Division One table, 14 points behind the leaders, Middlesex, but having played one match fewer.
Gillespie said: “He’s a great kid, gives the ball a whack and has shown good nous and awareness. Having worked with him at the Strikers, I know he’ll fit in to the changing room too, as all our players do. I just hope that he has a good time with us, enjoys himself and contributes to some good wins for Yorkshire.”
