Jake Lehmann juggles teaching career with red-hot Shield cricket form

Physical education is very successful, but Mandarin Chinese is being worked on.

In-form South Australian Jake Lehmann has spent the off-season differently than most of his team-mates.

After completing her teaching degree, Lehmann entered the classroom and even taught Chinese.

Now the homegrown veteran has played four Sheffield Shield centuries and relies on the clarity and direction in his life as a source of motivation.

There are a few bowlers currently frustrating Lehmann in the Shield competition, but he admits his foray into teaching was “a bit daunting”.

“I did a bit of work at Pulteney and PAC and it was great that they let me experiment a bit with charity teaching,” Lehmann said.

“It’s pretty funny because I think being a little bit older, trying things for the first time can actually be a little bit intimidating.

“The staff there were great and it’s something I can see myself doing in the future.

“When you’re a remedial teacher, you do everything. I did everything from physical education to Chinese, with a little drama.”

When he wasn’t a cricketer in the classroom, Lehmann was honing his skills as a coach in South Australia’s preparatory programmes.

The coaching title is strongly associated with the Lehmann name, as Jake’s father Darren managed the Australian national team for five years.

Jake says he’s still discovering his own philosophy, and he suspects it’s a copy of the freewheeling, fun style he likes to play.

“(My dad and I) talked about a few different philosophies, but the main people I talked to were the road coaches,” he said.

“Luke Butterworth, Shannon Tubb and John Palmer at SACA have been fantastic in developing what I believe in and what I strongly advocate for.

“This is probably about my cricket, I want players to go out and play freely, enjoy the game, understand why they started playing the game from the age of 10.

“And just show what talent you have, express it on the field to whoever is watching. Your parents, your brother, your sister, your friends or the worldwide audience in professional cricket.”

Lehmann, 33, is starting to prepare for life after cricket.

He easily gives in to a “teach or coach” ultimatum, but he knows it must include sports.

“I would love to stay in sport, I think sport is something that has been ingrained in me since I was little,” he said.

“I’ve tried everything, whether it’s football, cricket, football. Football season has just ended and I’m not sure what I’d do if I didn’t pursue cricket.”

“I play football from Thursday to Sunday, I watch football, I am interesting, sport is a passion and a way of life and I think I would love to show that to the children.

“It’s a community, it gets you outside, it helps you physically and in so many aspects of life.”

When it comes to teaching Mandarin, Lehmann knows he needs a few more lessons.

“Yes it’s not perfect, some of the kids were definitely speaking better than me,” he laughed.