DARREN LEHMANN STATEMENT

GOOD people can make mistakes. My family and I have copped a lot of abuse over the last week and it’s taken its toll on them. As many of you sitting in this room know, life on the road means a lot of time away from our loved ones and after speaking with my family it’s the right time to step away. I’m ultimately responsible for the culture of the team and I’ve been thinking about my position for a while. Despite telling media yesterday that I’m not resigning, after viewing Steve and Cameron’s hurting it’s only fair that I make this decision. This will allow Cricket Australia to complete a full review into the culture of the team and allow them to implement changes to regain the trust of the Australian public. This is the right thing for Australian cricket. As I said yesterday, like all Australians we are extremely disappointed and as a team we know we’ve let so many people down. For that we are truly sorry. The players involved have been handed very serious sanctions and they know they must face the consequences. They have made a grave mistake but they are not bad people. I would like to thank my beautiful wife Andrea, my four children and close friends for allowing me to do this job and supporting me 100 per cent every step of the way. I would also like to thank all the players and support staff who have been fantastic in my five years in the role. We’ve had a lot of highs along the way and played some really exciting cricket. It’s been a wonderful experience. I hope the Australian public find it in their hearts to forgive these young men and get behind the 11 who take to the field. This was tough, but saying goodbye to the players and telling them the news, that’s the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do.