Weary Northants get well-earned break before getting down to work ahead of 2027

And although proud of the efforts of his players to get through a gruelling six months that saw Northants play 76 days of cricket, Lehmann admits one of the targets for the squad over the winter will be to try and up their fitness levels even further.

A successful campaign for Northants, that saw the Steelbacks win the Vitality Blast title in July, ended in disappointing fashion with a seven-wicket defeat to Middlesex.

That means the County missed out on promotion as they finished third in the Rothesay County Championship, and Lehmann felt the 'engine was empty' for some of his players in the final few matches of the season.

They now get to rest for a few weeks before a staggered return to work in November, and Lehmann says they deserved some proper time off.

"We have all of October off, because the thing is with small counties, we have small lists, and the players need a break because they are playing all formats," said the head coach.

"They are all pretty cooked, so I am proud of their effort and proud of the effort of the medical staff to actually get through all of that cricket.

"We've had 14 champo games, eight Metros and 15 T20 games with a week off in the middle of the first block of six four-day games, and outside of that we didn't have a week off.

"So full credit to everyone for getting through, but I saw it a bit in the last couple of games, they just looked like the engine was empty.

"That is the hardest thing and we have to make sure we are ahead of the game earlier than that, and make sure we are in front, and I am proud of everyone's efforts.

"But one of the things for us is we probably have to be fitter again, because we were really tired in those last couple of games."

Lehmann, who returns to Australia next month for a winter working as a summariser for ABC television, also hinted the squad will be strengthened over the off season.

"We have to be good with our recruitment process," he said.

"We want to improve and we have to improve our squad where we possibly can.

"We have let go of a couple of players, we have had a retirement, and that's just part and parcel of the sport we are in.

"Now it is a time to reflect, what do we need? How do we improve?

"There is always something going on behind the scenes, but it all depends on who stays and who goes.

"There is always movements around, and we have to just hope we can keep this squad together, and we can move on and strengthen."

The players released by the club last week were Aadi Sharma and Arush Buchake, while long-serving all-rounder Rob Keogh has retired from professional cricket.