Darren Lehmann hits out at chief selector George Bailey: ‘He’s too close to the team’

“In my opinion, he’s too close to the team,” Lehmann said on ABC Sport.

“I would like him sitting up watching in a selectors’ box somewhere and be able to make his own decisions.

“My preference is the selector to be able to make decisions within a selection group and deliver a hard message if they have to. Make a hard decision if they have to for the betterment of Australian cricket.

“Now, you can’t do that sometimes if you’re too close because you actually get too emotional and you care about the players. As a selector, I cared about the players, as a coach you do, but sometimes you actually get too close and you forget about what’s out there.”

Lehman said as a selector Bailey is not strong even.

“Or selectors aren’t strong enough to actually stop players playing,” Lehmann said.

“Are players playing too long? History shows in the last little bit, maybe they have been.

“Selectors have to be a little bit stronger.”

Giving example of his own career, Lehman recalled how his career went “a year-and-a-half too long.”

“I was too old to be playing at that level, I wasn’t sharp enough or ready enough to face bowlers at 150kph and I think you actually get to that stage,” he said.

Earlier in this series former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy has criticised Bailey for sitting in the dug-out alongside the Australian team.

“He went out and shook hands with everyone, he did the whole shaking hands in a conga line,” Healy said on SEN Queensland.

“I would be thinking if I’m an Indian cricketer, ‘What do I need to shake your hand for, you’re the chairman of selectors? I just want to hurry up and get this win celebrated’.”