Buchanan: Time for Lehmann to return

In the wake of the death of David Hookes, Australia's coach, John Buchanan, has expressed hope that Darren Lehmann will be able to put his grief to one side and focus on re-establishing himself in the Australian Test team.

Lehmann, a close friend of Hookes's ever since they played together at South Australia, was visibly distraught when he faced the media on Friday. He had been present when Hookes was assaulted by a bouncer outside a Melbourne hotel, and was one of eight pall-bearers at his funeral on Tuesday.

"I spoke to him today and asked how he came through it," said Buchanan. "I'm sure he's going to have emotional swings but the biggest thing will be actually getting back and playing and captaining South Australia.

"It's tragic and it's sad," added Buchanan, "but life moves on and so does [Lehmann's] life, and his family and his cricket. That's what's important to him. I would see this as maybe a little bit of a stoppage in it for a period of time. I think he's pretty philosophical, he's a pragmatist, he's a realist and he enjoys playing cricket."

Lehmann may now be 34, but he is still seen as an integral part of the Australian set-up. In particular his prowess against spin will be vital in the coming months, as Australia take on Sri Lanka and India in away series. But Lehmann has been out of action since October with an Achilles injury, and has plenty of fitness work to catch up on.

"I'm pretty sure he's nowhere near as fit as he would like to be," said Buchanan. "But he's got a few games on the horizon that will help the cause. He was obviously a fixture in the side before the injury, both the one-day side and the Test side. I know the selectors are just monitoring his fitness. For me, as soon as they assess that he's fit enough to be playing either four-day cricket or one-day cricket then his name just comes straight back into the selection picture."