Darren Lehmann has fallen back in love with cricket, but says he won't ever consider another international coaching stint after returning to where it all began in Brisbane.
Former Australian mentor Lehmann will get back in the saddle for the Heat, where he launched a coaching career that shuddered to a halt following last year's Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.
Keen to move on from the episode, Lehmann said he had rediscovered his love for the sport and hoped his two-year Big Bash League deal was an endorsement of his methods.
Lehmann ultimately resigned over the sandpaper incident after players David Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft were suspended.
But he continued to work developing talent with the national performance squad and other cricket pathway programs before entering the media.
He said those commentary stints during the Australian summer sparked the next "chapter" of his coaching journey.
"You go through chapters as a coach, whether it's success or failure and I've had both," he said.
"It's a learning curve for everyone and I've learnt plenty.
"It was about getting back to waking up and enjoying going to the game ... for a while there it was very hard to watch."
While he says that joy has returned, the former Test batsman said he had no desire to coach an Australian team again.
And he bit his tongue when asked what he thought of the review that deemed there to be a toxic culture within the men's program.
"Yep (it did hurt) ... because against England when it was 4-0 (in a home Ashes serious earlier that year) there was no attack on culture then," he said.
"We understand that that's what happens (the backlash) when something like that (ball-tampering) happens.
"I don't want to go too much into it to be honest; it's time we move forward, it's happened, can't change it."
He said the national coaching job remained "the best job in the world" but that the strain on his personal life meant it was no longer an option.
"No (I'm not coaching internationally again). I'm not travelling 300 days away again a year and I don't think my wife would let me either," he said.
Lehmann won the Heat post narrowly ahead of former Bulls wicketkeeper and current Sheffield Shield coach Wade Seccombe, while James Hopes and Brendon McCullum were also shortlisted for the role.
He said he "hoped" the appointment was proof his coaching and management methods were sound and that there was some element of redemption to the role.
"Yes and no I suppose. At the end of day I'm a coach just trying to help some young blokes go forward," he said.
