Is it time to split coaching roles?

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DARREN Lehmann is doing his best to make sure his key troops are rested and revitalised for the home Ashes series, but what about the man himself?

Australia play England in the first of a five-match one-day series at Leeds tonight and Lehmann's rival national coach will not be Andy Flower, the man he confronted in the Ashes.

England's short-form sides are coached by former Test spinner and national selector Ashley Giles.

It's a ground-breaking system but it works well. Both men stay fresh. They swap ideas. There is no insecurity of tenure for either because they respect and trust each other.

They are different types of men but they try to keep their messages similar and the sum of one plus one often seems greater than two.

Australia sends its main man out as a lone wolf. Round and round he goes until he limps home after eight or nine months a year on the road.

Several men who have done the Australian job took years to recover from the strain of it when their terms were done.

The pay is good (around $500,000 a year), the rewards are potentially great but so is the commitment level.

When Lehmann arrives home from England he will barely have time to unpack his gear before heading off on a seven-match 50-over tour of India. When that is over he will step into the blazing cauldron of an Ashes summer.

Lehmann, as a father of twins who are midway through primary school in Brisbane, is already aware of the emotional challenges of the job. Several of Lehmann's mates thought he might never accept the Australian job because of his family duties.

Australia loathe copying England in any cricket matter but the split coaches is one area where the Poms have been shrewd.

If Australia feel Lehmann is the man they want long-term — and they want him to stay as fresh and focused as possible — then they too should look at splitting the roles, or, at the very least giving him some tours off.

One bonus of splitting the jobs is it allows the head man to gain fresh perspective by getting out of the team bubble and viewing the side like the man in the stand.

Lehmann, as we saw during the Ashes series when he listened to Test match commentary on headphones, is a man open to all ideas.

He is just as likely to come up with a fresh idea at a barbecue at Jim Maher's place in Brisbane or speaking to Adam Gilchrist over a beer as he is from being at a team hotel on tour.

Few players have better global contacts.

The other positive thing about splitting the jobs is it gives Australia some sort of succession plan and provides a pathway for emerging coaches.

The haphazard way Lehmann was hauled in to replace Mickey Arthur in England spotlighted the shallowness of the alternatives and the lack of planning in this area.

Lehmann was about to head off to northern England to visit his in laws when he was offered the job which he hastily accepted.

The options for a back-up coach are not substantial but the pool is far from empty. Tom Moody, Matt Mott, Stuart Law, Jason Gillespie, Justin Langer and Trevor Bayliss are all respected and experienced.

Any of them would be up to the job of being the No.2 coach to the man Australia cannot afford to be burnt out before his time.