New Delhi: Australia cricket coach Darren Lehmann said on Thursday that he cannot see himself continuing in the demanding role beyond 2019.
Lehmann, who took over from Mickey Arthur in 2013, sees himself not doing the job beyond the 2019 Ashes.
"If I got to 2019 that'd be six years. I couldn't see myself going past that at all. I think my wife would kill me if I went past that."
"I think a shelf life if you have success is four to six years," he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
A recent bout of deep vein thrombosis has proved to be a "reality check" for the former Aussie player. He was admitted to a Sydney hospital on January 23 with a swollen calf.
The health issue saw the successful coach miss Australia's Twenty20 series against India and the one-day international tour of New Zealand. He was then given the all-clear to join the ongoing Test series against the Black Caps.
This has served Lehmann as a wake-up call, with the 46-year-old still on medication and forced to wear a compression stocking each day.
The blood clot has seen Lehmann re-think his diet and lifestyle.
"It's like everything you get with those difficult situations, you get a reality check," he said.
Former Australia coach John Buchanan has been one of the most successful coaches in the game who did the job for eight years between 1999-2007. Lehmann said it was different now as one travels more without much break.
"I don't think you could do that now; the job's gotten bigger and bigger. You're travelling that much now and you don't get a break because you normally don't get injured. You're on the road the whole time.”
(With Agency inputs)
