Lehmann happy with rebuilding Aussies

Australia

Australia coach Darren Lehmann has revealed that players were always going to get opportunities to establish themselves in the Test starting line up following a raft of retirements late last year.

The Aussies completed an innings and 52-run victory over New Zealand in Wellington on Monday and will go to the top of the world Test rankings if they avoid defeat in the second and final Test, starting in Christchurch on Saturday.

As many as six senior players retired from the longest format of the game after Australia lost the Ashes in England, but Lehmann is happy that their consistency in selection is paying off.

Lehmann said: "With the retirements it gave people a little bit of a run at it for a couple of series. You can go speak to them and confidently say 'you're going to get a good run without chopping and changing'.

"We're happy with our top six. We are leaving a bloke out who made 182 in his last test match and that is tough on Shaun Marsh, so you have to keep making runs when you have blokes sitting on the sideline, there's no doubt about that.

"Everyone needs to do their job day in and day out."

Since the Ashes Australia have beaten the Kiwis and West Indies in series at home and now cannot lose to their Trans-Tasman rivals away from home.

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