Head coach Lehmann gives Lynn the licence to thrill for the Steelbacks in Vitality Blast
"We want him to be that explosive batter."
Head coach Darren Lehmann says Chris Lynn will be given the licence to go on the attack and thrill the crowds when the Steelbacks get their Vitality Blast campaign underway with a home clash against Glamorgan on Friday night (start 6.30pm).
The Australian is rejoining the Steelbacks for a third stint, having previously starred for the side in 2022 and 2023, when he scored three centuries for the club, becoming the first player to do so.
He was of course a thorn in the Steelbacks' side on Finals Day at Edgbaston in September, hammering an unbeaten 108 from just 51 balls for Hampshire Hawks as they beat Northants in the semi-finals at Edgbaston.
Lynn is a player that Lehmann knows well, having worked with him when he his coach at Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League, and he knows what he wants from him in the Blast this summer.
The 36-year-old has come in as a big-hitting replacement for South African Matt Breetzke, who was forced to pull out of a two-year contract he had agreed at Northants due to international commitments.
And although Lehmann accepts the club losing Breetzke is a blow, he believes Lynn is more than capable of filling that void in the T20 format.
“We are going to miss Breetzke, and we obviously missed him in the semi-final last year, but what we do have is Chris Lynn," said Lehmann.
“He knows the ground well, and the grounds here in England aren’t big enough for him.
“The grounds in Australia are a lot bigger, so he knows what he needs to do and he can certainly turn a game in a couple of overs."
That is what he did at Edgbaston in September when, with the Steelbacks trying to turn the screw against Hampshire in the semi-final, Lynn hammered five sixes into the Hollies Stand off one Lloyd Pope over to end the game as a contest.
And Lehmann will tell Lynn that he wants him to go hard from the off for the Steelbacks.
“For us, we want Lynn to be that explosive batter, as we have enough players that can cover him failing, if that makes sense," said the head coach.
“We have blokes in the side that we want to really take the game on, and then blokes that can play the game.
“Lynny also knows a lot of the squad already, and he will fit in easy for us.”
Lynn arrived in Northampton last week and has played a clutch of second team T20 matches, with the latest at Worcestershire on Wednesday.
He arrived refreshed and rested having not played any cricket since turning out for Adelaide Strikers in the BBL on January 17.
Lynn had a modest campaign with the bat as Strikers fnished sixth in the BBL table, having claimed four wins in 10 matches.
He scored 178 runs in his 10 innings, with one half-century, at an average of 22.25 and a strike-rate of 134.84.
Lynn became the first player to reach three figures at Finals Day last summer, and that was hos sixth century in T20 cricket.
Three of his other five came in Steelbacks colours, with all of them scored at Wantage Road, including his career-best 113 not out from 57 balls against Worcestershire in 2022.
In his first season at Northants, Lynn scored two centuries and four half-centuries as he rattled up 516 runs at an average of 64.50, and then 12 months later he hit one ton and one 50 on his way to a 364-run haul at 30.33.