Sydney: Triumphant coach Darren Lehmann has revealed his New Year’s resolution for Australia to win away from home on the road to regaining world number number one status.
“I want Australia to again become a winning side away from home,” Lehmann wrote in his column for Friday’s The Telegraph newspaper.
“We must lift our game on the road if we are to achieve our goal of being the world’s No.1 side.”
Australia are currently in fifth place in the ICC’s Test rankings, while England are two places above them in third behind leaders South Africa and India.
With Australia pursuing a 5-0 whitewash of England in the final Test starting on Friday, Lehmann is already looking to the next challenge in South Africa.
Australia failed to win any of the nine Tests they played abroad in 2013, including the previous Ashes when they went down 3-0 in England during the European summer.
Only two countries won in non-neutral Tests during 2013, which saw more than 40 played. Bangladesh beat Zimbabwe in Harare in April and Pakistan beat Zimbabwe there in September.
“The next side to snatch an edge and bound up the rankings will be the one who starts winning away from home because no-one is doing it,” Lehmann said.
“I refuse to accept a lot of the excuses people have for losing away from home. Playing the Ashes in England is such a pleasure I struggle to even categorise it as an away series,” he said.
“But I must concede that, with home nations producing the wickets, it is not easy to topple a side on their own patch.”
Lehmann added that it was likely that Australia would play three Tests against Pakistan in Dubai during October.
