It is an open secret that Justin Langer is the Australian coach in waiting, but Darren Lehmann hopes to extend his tenure in the job until the 2019 Ashes tour by taking a break from the team's relentless touring schedule next year.
Lehmann will hand the controls of the Australian side to Langer for the tri-series one-day tournament with the West Indies and South Africa in the Caribbean in the winter.   
The coach's contract runs until midway through 2017, as do the deals of team performance chief Pat Howard and national selector Rod Marsh, and there has been an expectation by some that he would be unlikely to continue on beyond that given the arduous travel requirements of the position.
However, Lehmann indicated on Sunday that he could go on further, identifying the defence of Australia's World Cup in 2019 as well as series wins in India and England and victory in the World Twenty20 tournament next year as being on his to-do list.
"I haven't got an end date in mind. I'd like to go for a while yet. I've got some things I want to tick off as a coach," he said.
"I'd love us to win on the subcontinent and play better cricket there. The T20, that's another one and then obviously defend a World Cup. 
"(Winning the Ashes in England) is still a burning desire. I think we let ourselves down. In 2013 it was a different scenario - we were changing the whole set-up but (this) year was disappointing so I'd love to have another crack at that. But you're guided by results along the way. You can't look that far ahead."
If Lehmann stayed on until the next Ashes tour he would have been in the job for six years, a marathon stint in this era of seemingly constant touring. 
"I don't think you can do it long term," Lehmann said. "Not in international coaching because you're away for 300 days a year. You've got to try and find a happy medium. I think once you've tried to tick off all the boxes you'd like as a coach and hopefully you've achieved them then it's probably someone else's turn."
That someone will almost certainly be Langer, who has turned around the fortunes of Western Australia since taking over there after being an assistant to former Australian head coaches Tim Nielsen and Mickey Arthur.
"It's just a chance to get JL into the system and let him have the reins for a trip," Lehmann said. "I think his record speaks for itself as a coach. At the end of the day that won't be my decision, that will be the board's decision. It's just a good experience for him to get on with the lads again."
Howard added: "Justin Langer has done an outstanding job, taking his teams to the finals of our three domestic competitions last year, and winning two of them.
"He's also done a very good job preparing WA players to represent Australia. This appointment to cover the limited-overs series in the Caribbean is a great reward for that excellent work."