Northants coach Darren Lehmann backing Joe Root to join 'all-time greats' with Ashes ton Down Under

Lehmann made headlines a year ago when he claimed England's all-time leading run-scorer Root was 'a rung below' the trio of India's Virat Kohli, Australia's Steve Smith and New Zealand's Kane Williamson, mainly due to the fact he has yet to score a Test century Down Under.

Lehmann said he didn't have Root 'in the realm' of being an 'all-time great', and asked to compare him with Kohli, Smith and Williamson he explained: "They’ve made runs all over the world in difficult conditions against different oppositions.

"That's the only thing stopping Joe Root. I think he's a great player, but is he an all-time great? I don't have him in that realm. I think you've got to make hundreds all around the world."

Root’s measured response was to say: “My job is to score runs... His (Lehmann’s) job is to give his opinion and talk on the radio. I'll do my job and he can do his. He's completely entitled to say what he wants. That's his right.”

Root has to date played 27 Test innings in Australia and boasts an average of 35.68 and a top score of 89, which is remarkable when you think in his career overall he has scored 39 tons at 51.3.

Root's 13,409 Test runs are the most ever scored by an Englishman, and second only to Sachin Tendulkar's world high of 15,921, and he has also scored more Test centuries than any other English player.

Now 34 and with England not due back in Australia until 2029, this series could be Root's final chance to break his Down Under century duck, and Lehmann, who coached the Aussies to Ashes success in 2014 and 2018 also won them as a player, does believe he will do just that.

And he also made it clear in how high a regard he holds the former England captain.

Speaking on ABC's Summer Grandstand show, Lehmann was asked again about Root and he was full of praise for the Yorkshireman - but also doubled down on his belief that he does have to hit three figures in an overseas Ashes Test.

Asked if he thinks Root is a great, Lehmann said: "Yes, and I have said it before, he just needs that hundred to tick that box.

"He is a great and there are no problems there, my comments are more concerning him being an all-time great, I mean one of the greatest ever, and if he gets that hundred then he will be.

"Joe Root will get the records, he'll break the runs records, and the only one above him will be Don Bradman at 99.

"Root is going to play for a long time still, but he won't be back here in Australia again, and if he doesn't get a hundred then I think Australia will win the Ashes, because he is a big lynchpin for England.

"He has had three goes at an Ashes series here, and now he is on his fourth, and if he doesn't get it then there is that question mark isn't there? Did he cope with the bounce? Did he knick off too often?

"They are the things where you can get away with it in England, but you can't get away with in Australia.

"He has also played okay at times and he could get a hundred, and I think he will actually, but I think England need him to get three hundreds to win the Ashes.

"If he does that, then we are talking about one of the best of all time."

As well as being a big series for Root, Lehmann feels the rest of the batting line-up is going to have to stand up if England are to have a chance of claiming their first away Ashes win since 2010/11, and their first Ashes series victory on either side of the world since 2015, having drawn the past two home series 2-2.

And the County supremo thinks whatever tone is set in the opening Test in Perth could be crucial to the outcome of the series.

"Harry Brook is a fine player and he will make runs," said Lehmann. "If he makes a hundred here in his first series he will go a long way to winning a Test match.

"I think Ben Stokes is the only guy that has made a hundred in Australia, and he has the game to make runs here, but Brook has to have a good series, and so do Duckett, Crawley and Ollie Pope.

"If they go all guns blazing, the wickets go all over the shop and they get all out then it could be bad news for England.

"If they play somewhere in between and try and get through the new ball, then it could go the other way, it is going to be so fascinating in the first Test in Perth.

"If the Aussies get off to a flyer then they could continue their dominance of England in Australia."

The first Test starts at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Friday, November 21.