Lehmann appointed Australia coach until 2015 Brydon Coverdale June 24, 2013 Mickey Arthur's tenure as Australia coach has ended © AFP Enlarge Related Links What They Said About : 'It just hasn't been working' Blogs : Arthur the victim of a revolution? News : Mickey Arthur sacked as Australia's coach Features : Timeline: many lows, much controversy Players/Officials: Mickey Arthur Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of England and Scotland Teams: Australia Darren Lehmann has been appointed Australia's new head coach until the end of the 2015 World Cup after Mickey Arthur was sacked over what Cricket Australia called failures of discipline, consistency of behaviour and accountability. Lehmann will take over immediately and has just over two weeks to prepare the squad for the first Ashes Test after the drastic decision by Cricket Australia's management. "This has been a difficult decision to make but one that we feel is necessary," James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, said. "We are looking to establish a high-performing Australian cricket team that is consistent over a period of time. To achieve that, we need all the parts moving in the right direction. Recent on-field results have been too inconsistent. "Discipline, consistency of behaviour and accountability for performance are all key ingredients that need to improve. And we see that the head coach is ultimately responsible for that. The Cricket Australia board decided yesterday that Mickey Arthur should not continue as head coach of the Australian cricket team. In taking this decision, the Board accepted the recommendation to make an immediate change as being in the best interests of the team. "The timing is far from ideal but we didn't feel we could sit back and hope matters would change without addressing issues critical to a high performing team culture. It obviously isn't the type of change we want to make three weeks out from the Ashes commencing but we believe a change is needed. "Darren Lehmann has been appointed as the new Australia head coach. He has had outstanding success in a short time with Queensland Cricket winning the Bupa Sheffield Shield, Ryobi One-Day Cup and KFC T20 Big Bash League all within the last two years. Lehmann will be contracted until June 2015 - post the 2015 Cricket World Cup. "The Board considered him the outstanding candidate to drive the cultural change required in the team and to take it to the number one ranking in all formats of the game. No-one is underestimating the task at hand but we believe he is the right man for the job. It is up to the players to respond under his leadership and demonstrate their commitment to a successful Australian team." Arthur conceded that the team had not galvanised sufficiently under his tenure. "Naturally I'm very disappointed with how this has all ended," Arthur said. "I certainly wanted to see the job through but I accept that the team hasn't been completely galvanised under my leadership and our performances have been inconsistent. "I'm certainly a believer in good culture and traditions much like all Australians and feel we were starting to get a shift in the right direction. We certainly need the team to be absolutely unified if we're any chance of beating the English." Lehmann said his focus as coach would be to ensure the players learnt what they needed to about the game and improved their skills. "It's important to talk about the game, whether it's with a beer or a Diet Coke I don't mind," Lehmann said. "It's a challenge for all the playing group and everyone involved in CA. The team is going to play a certain way. We're going to play an aggressive brand of cricket that entertains the fans but also gets the job done on and off the field. I'm excited by the challenge." Cricket Australia has also confirmed that the captain Michael Clarke has stood down from the selection panel. Clarke was appointed to the five-man panel after the Argus Report recommended that the captain and coach become more accountable by officially being part of the selection process. "Michael first approached Pat Howard in March after the recent Indian series and requested to stand down as a selector so that he could focus on the team and avoid any perceived conflicts of interest," Sutherland said. "Being a team selector was proving to be a significant drain on Michael's time and he sees this as distracting from his primary responsibilities as a player and as captain."