Cricket Australia (CA) on Wednesday 18 April clarified that no decision had yet been made about who would replace Darren Lehmann as coach of the national team.

Newspaper reports had linked Justin Langer, the former Australia opener, to the job. The board, however, refuted this and stressed that it was in no hurry to name a replacement, says an ICC press release.

‘The process to be undertaken for the appointment of a new Australian men’s head coach will be discussed and agreed at the CA board meeting this Friday,’ a statement said.

‘No appointment has been made, and nor will any candidate be put to the board for ratification on Friday.

‘We expect to have a clearer understanding of the approach and appointment timelines following this meeting,’ it added.

Langer, a left-hand batsman with 28,382 first-class runs from 360 matches at a healthy average of 50.23, is among the front-runners to replace Lehmann, his former team-mate.

Lehmann stepped down after the 3-1 loss on their Test tour of South Africa, where the team was engulfed by the ball-tampering scandal that resulted in 12-month bans for Steve Smith and David Warner, captain and vice-captain at the time.

Langer already has experience of coaching the national side, taking charge during the one-day international tri-series in the Caribbean in 2016 when Lehmann took a break following a bout of ill health.

As coach, he has had success with Western Australia and Perth Scorchers.

However, with pressure on Australia to shake up the team culture from the top, and with CEO James Sutherland suggesting that ‘amongst international cricket there are a number of coaches that are performing very well’, CA could keep its options open.