Jake Lehmann was three years old when his old man, Darren, lifted the Sheffield Shield. This week, he hopes to create his own story that will be retold by his family
Lehmann's long wait to revisit father's Shield triumph
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As the poignant photograph attests, Jake Lehmann is the sole member of South Australia's current Sheffield Shield line-up who can claim direct experience of the team's most recent grand final triumph 29 years ago.
But Lehmann – almost three months shy of his fourth birthday when his dad, Darren, and teammates lifted the trophy following their famous Adelaide Oval draw against Western Australia – admits he retains no first-hand memories of that historic event.
Rather, his recollections stem from the archival photos and footage that regularly surface, and from the stories shared with his maternal grandfather who chaperoned the youngster as the crowd grew steadily bigger throughout the afternoon.
The candid snap taken in the SA dressing rooms with young Jake seated somewhat distractedly on his father's knee, flanked by the Shield and team wicketkeeper Tim Nielsen, remains a favourite among the family for obvious reasons.
"I actually went to my grandpa's house the other night, and we were talking about it," Jake Lehmann told cricket.com.au last week.
"He was just reminiscing about being there, going on the field after the game with me on his shoulders and he was telling me about that that last session.
"As it was getting tight towards the end with the possibility of a draw, they opened the gates up and it was all free admission, so it was packed and then everyone just poured on to the oval.
"So there's all those cool little stories that you hear, but I personally don't remember.
"I feel like I've remembered it because I've heard so much about it."
In truth, three-year-old Jake might have spent more time watching the game than his dad that gripping afternoon in 1996 as SA hung on grimly to draw the decider.
Darren has recounted that, after he was dismissed for a duck early on the final day, he found the tension of watching the last session so excruciating he and fellow top-order batter Paul Nobes went for a lengthy walk along the banks of the nearby River Torrens.
But the son of SA's all-time leading Shield runs scorer holds much clearer recollections of later days spent at Adelaide Oval where he and the children of other team members waged their own cricket games on the tennis courts behind the members' stand.
One of the participants in those contests was Nielsen's eldest son, Harry – aged just 10 months at the time of SA's most recent Shield win – who also remains in the selection mix for this week's Shield final against Queensland at Karen Rolton Oval.
"We just played cricket flat out, all day out the back on those tennis courts," Lehmann recalled with a broad smile.
"Then we'd come out to watch a bit of the cricket on the main oval when we're having a break.
"The players' dining room used to be downstairs down under the grandstand, and the person running it would always give me and Harry some ice cream and load us up.
"They were the best days, definitely, as a kid.
"You look back on it now, and I just hope my little girl (Roxy) can enjoy it and look back on it one day, and hopefully it's similar for them."
Having experienced a Shield title triumph before he'd reached school, and then being part of SA's next home grand final and a One-Day Cup decider in his first full season as a player at interstate level, Lehmann might have imagined his career would be strewn with silverware.
But from the time he received his Baggy Red Cap from his father (then Australia men's team coach) late in the 2014-15 summer, a decade would elapse before he celebrated a trophy win in last month's One-Day Cup success against Victoria.
During that barren period, the left-hander played in two losing Shield finals (to Victoria in 2015-16 and 2016-17) as well as two limited-overs final defeats, including the 2022-23 loss to Western Australia in which he was skipper.
It's therefore understandable this season's drought-breaking one-day title win, in which Lehmann (67) and Nielsen (68) top scored for SA, has become his most cherished genuine cricket memory with the hope it will be overtaken by a Shield win this week.
"I think in the first couple of years I played, we had a pretty strong group and being on the younger side (aged 23) I was probably a bit naïve, just loved playing and wasn't thinking about too much," Lehmann said.
"Ten years down the track now, I've definitely thought about it and thought about those opportunities that arise, and wondered if they would ever come again.
"To win the One-Day Cup this year was just such a relief.
"The Big Bash win (with Adelaide Strikers in 2017-18) was awesome at the time, but I guess my love for South Australian cricket means I want to win stuff for SACA."
It's that passion for the red cap and the shared bond of title success with teammates that are a theme of the regular chats between Jake Lehmann and his dad, currently in England having taken on the job of coach with county outfit Northamptonshire.
Jake admits the pair rarely discuss individual performances, though Darren has always been on hand to provide wise counsel and constructive advice if asked.
On raw statistics alone, there's probably not a vast amount Darren could impart despite a career record that shows more than 25,000 first-class runs at an average of almost 58, 27 Test appearances and two ODI World Cup wins with Australia.
That's because Jake's own output over a decade places him among the upper-echelon of men's players to have represented SA across their 132-year history.
He will earn his 80th Shield cap in this week's final, the same number of appearances of another member of that eulogised 1995-96 team – Tim May – with only 15 players having represented the state more times.
Of those 15 to have had more than Jake Lehmann's 150 Shield innings for SA, only 10 boast a superior average to his current 35.51 while his return of 12 centuries in that time outranks contemporary and current Test batter Travis Head (11).
He also sits in the all-time top 10 of SA's leading runs scorers in the domestic 50-over format (1,387 at a strike rate of 82.56 per 100 balls faced).
Yet a reason his performances are so often undervalued and his place within the SA starting XI so regularly the source of on-line venting by success-starved SA fans is because the name atop virtually all those state batting records is his dad's.
And just in case the expectation he carried into first-class cricket 10 years ago starts to fade, there's the reality of walking past a statue of his fabled father every time Jake makes his way from Adelaide Oval's northern car park to the team dressing room.
"I always knew it was going to be the case, and obviously at times it's probably difficult," Jake said of the double-edged sword of following his father's footsteps.
"But he's been a great mentor to me, and never pushed me into cricket.
"Just always loved the game and we'd speak about the game in terms of getting better and how to enjoy it, to create wins and create memories and that's all we really talk about.
"One of the things I realised early on was if I ever got to be half as good as the old man, I'll be going okay and I've kind of stuck to that mantra a little bit lately.
"It releases that pressure, because obviously the pressure is there externally.
"But internally, between me and him and my family, it's not there.
"We just try and enjoy the ride."
Until last month's One-Day Cup win, that ride had delivered "some good highs, but also some pretty low lows".
Despite posting a half-century in his debut Shield innings and his maiden century four innings later yielding an imperious 205, Lehmann has experienced bouts on the outer and had his occasionally unorthodox technique picked apart by some of Australia's best bowlers.
His 17 games as Shield captain in Head's absence between 2018 and 2024 – a period when SA finished bottom of the ladder in five consecutive summers - produced just three wins, and Nathan McSweeney was installed in the job this season.
But Lehmann's return to rank-and-file player status has freed his mind as well as his stroke play and this season's 640 runs (at 42.66 with a competition equal-high three centuries) represents the second-most productive summer of his Shield career.
He also sits just 36 runs shy of SA's highest scorer Henry Hunt in their so-far dominant Shield campaign of 2024-25, having spent the past decade countering the ever-evolving bowling strategies of his rivals.
"I think you'll see it with most young players," said Lehmann, who in 2019-20 won the annual Dansie Medal as SA's foremost men's player.
"If they're going to have a long career, they'll normally burst onto the scene and then most of the technical analysts and the coaches will find a way to try and slow their scoring or find a weakness in their game.
"I think that's what happened to me a little bit, and I had to work through that and continue to work through that.
"I think that's something that I've done pretty well as a player for a long period now.
"If someone comes up with something new, or a theory or a strategy where they think I'm a little bit weaker, I feel like I've been able to work on that and come back stronger.
"In terms of the captaincy, I think it was the right time for Nathan (McSweeney) who's a fantastic person and also a fantastic player.
"That was just a release for me, from the responsibility and all the other stuff that comes with captaincy.
"A lot of people don't realise how much time and effort goes into stuff behind the scenes – media, selections, sponsors commitments, all these things that takes time away from actual performance.
"It probably did affect me at the back end of last year so to free that up and just rock up, play cricket and enjoy it while helping out where I can has been a real refresher for me, and it's probably showed in my batting."
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The 32-year-old, whose overseas playing stints include captaining Lancashire League team Little Lever to a title in 2023, hopes to continue his first-class career beyond this week's play-off regardless of the result.
However, he understands professional sport offers few certainties and he admits to having an eye on post-playing life from the time he earned his first SA contract in 2014-15.
Having completed a bachelor's degree in human movement and health science, Lehmann undertook further study in recent years to earn primary school teaching qualifications and he has undertaken several placements in Adelaide schools.
During this summer's Big Bash League hiatus, he was also involved in coaching SA's under-19 men's team and thoroughly enjoyed the couple of commentary stints on cricket.com.au's live stream coverage he did last summer.
But for now, his focus remains unwavering on this week's Shield final as he is perhaps more acutely aware than any of his SA teammates as to the significance of what they are on the cusp of achieving.
"I think of Callum Ferguson, someone who I started alongside and played with a lot, and even though he won a one-day title (in 2011-12) he never got to experience a Shield title," Lehmann said.
"Such a great player, with 120-odd games for the state who put his life and his blood into it, and didn't get the reward in a Shield final.
"And it's something the old man talks about.
"He went to Victoria, won a Shield there (1990-91), and he talks about winning World Cups and being part of Ashes wins – all the team stuff and even his coaching successes.
"That's the pinnacle, the titles you win and the players you share it with.
"And I know how highly he rates that day when South Australia won it at Adelaide Oval."
Sheffield Shield final 2024-25
March 26-30 (10.35am ACDT): South Australia v Queensland, Karen Rolton Oval, Adelaide
The Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast live on Foxtel, Kayo Sports, cricket.com.au and the CA Live app
Sheffield Shield standings 2024-25
| Team | M | W | L | D | N/R | Ded. | Bat | Bowl | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
SA
|
10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.61 | 9 | 55.61 |
|
2
QLD
|
10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9.06 | 8.7 | 39.76 |
|
3
VIC
|
10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.19 | 9.3 | 39.49 |
|
4
NSW
|
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6.99 | 8.4 | 36.39 |
|
5
TAS
|
10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7.72 | 8.2 | 35.92 |
|
6
WA
|
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.83 | 8.6 | 35.43 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points