New Australian coach Darren Lehmann has to find the top gear in the Shane Watson motor Whether even Darren Lehmann can totally defrost the iceberg between Michael Clarke and Shane Watson (above) is questionable. Picture: Calum Robertson Source: adelaidenow ONE of Darren Lehmann's first priorities as Australian cricket coach must be to clear the head of his side's Kevin Rudd, all-rounder Shane Watson. Like Rudd, Watson is a former team leader who was brutally shunted to Siberia and remains burdened by the scars of rejection. Both men remain members of their "parties" but on loveless terms with their current leaders, and with shaky relationships with the leader's henchmen. The wounds of exile run deep, to the point where sacked coach Mickey Arthur could not get Watson's mental state where he wanted it to be after sacking him for not doing his homework in Mohali. Their relationship never recovered. You sense a part of Watson will never get over the episode, and he cannot be totally blamed for that. Lehmann has a chance to dress the wound, if not remove all the scar tissue. His trump card is he had nothing to do with Mohali and can say, with the clearest of consciences, "Mate, I would have sorted that out over a beer." Of course, like all new coaches, he will have a honeymoon period where his every word is revered as if he is delivering the Ten Commandments. If he asks Michael Clarke and Watson to share a double bed this week, the first line you might hear from one of them is "I bags the big pillow." However, whether even Lehmann can totally defrost the iceberg between Clarke and Watson is questionable. One of the most regrettable decisions Australia made in recent times was to appoint Watson vice-captain to Clarke when the whisper on every street corner was they did not get along. Even the Cricket Australia board, whose job it was to rubber-stamp the selection, had concerns and debated the issue behind closed doors, questioning whether the appointment would push them together or drive them apart. In fairness, there were few other options and Watson, a dual Allan Border Medal winner, deserved recognition for his progress, but his form under Clarke was a shadow of what he achieved when Ricky Ponting was in charge. Watson's standing in the team was not helped by rumours he intentionally alerted CA to the fact that David Warner had punched Joe Root in a bar this tour, and wanted a similar penalty to the one-match ban he copped in Mohali. CA has strongly rejected the rumour, but has accepted the version that Watson exposed Warner by accident. It believes Watson was in a meeting with Arthur about some of the all-rounder's "issues," and he was prepared to cop criticism as long as there was an even playing field, which obviously included the hijinks from the night before. CA has accepted Watson thought Arthur knew about the incident - but he didn't. No matter what was said - and we may have to wait until career-end biographies for the definitive version - Watson certainly had a right to make the point that you can't use the big stick for some and a feather-duster for others. There is a gear in Watson's Test play that Australia has never seen. The challenge for Lehmann is to find it.