Lehmann elected head of players' union

Darren Lehmann, the captain of South Australia, has been elected president of the Australian Cricketers' Association and is the first person to hold the post while still a player. The members of the ACA voted Lehman in for a two-year term replacing Ian Healy who retired after five years as president.

"The fact I'm still playing will allow me to still be hands-on in communicating with the players nationwide," Lehmann told the Herald. "I reckon that since I'm still playing with and against other state players, if they have any concerns I'll hear about them pretty quick."

Lehmann said that programming was perhaps the major issue behind concerns of too much cricket and also hoped to develop support structures for the families of cricketers who spend several months of the year away from home.

Lehmann had aspired to become a national selector while still playing for South Australia last summer. However, he was overklooked as Cricket Australia chose Merv Hughes as Allan Border's replacement during his brief retirement. Lehmann, who played 27 Tests for Australia, just completed a prolific season for Yorkshire scoring 1706 runs at an average of 77 including a career best 339.