``If Sri Lanka wants to remain on top and be the best in the world, the formation of a cricket coaches association is essential so that there will be uniformity in coaching and necessary knowledge can be exchanged,'' said Lenham, addressing a press conference at the Sri Lanka Cricket Board last week.
``England made the mistake of allowing lesser experienced coaches to handle the young ones,'' said Lenham lamenting on the fall of English cricket standards.
``An English coach having followed a coaching course goes into isolation for a long time and forgets what he is taught,'' he said.
Lenham is presently on a two-week visit to Sri Lanka to conduct the NCA advanced diploma coaching (level III) examination, which he says is the highest level a coach can attain.
``The examination is very tough. One cannot be classed an advanced coach unless you are the best,'' said Lenham.
Only three Sri Lankans have so far got through the examination and qualified at this level namely, W.A.N. Silva, Ranjit Fernando and Annesley de Silva.
Lenham said that he had to alter a busy program in England to take time off to come to Sri Lanka and conduct this examination due to a request made by Abu Fuard, a former Sri Lanka cricketer, manager and national selector.
``I was told that Sri Lanka needed an advanced course examination for coaches and they had the right candidates for it,'' he said.
Sri Lanka cricketers Arjuna Ranatunga, Roy Dias, Bandula Warnapura, Rumesh Ratnayake, Brendon Kuruppu, Anura Tennekoon, Jayantha Seneviratne, and Nihal Kodituwakku are among 18 candidates who are undergoing the present course.
This is Lenham's third visit to Sri Lanka. On the two previous occasions he was here, Lenham ran the very first coaching course with 30 candidates in 1982 and six years later came here and conducted the senior coaching course.
Lenham (60) has been a coach for nearly 40 years and during this time has gained an enormous amount of information from all the great players in the world. He has run coaching clinics in West Indies, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and India and boasts of having conducted 251 coaching courses around the world - '151 more than anyone else in the world'.
``There is no substitute for high class basic technique. You cannot remain on top unless you have properly qualified coaches. The progress of youngsters between the ages of eight and ten should be carefully monitored,'' said Lenham, who played for Sussex in the English county championships from 1957-69 before becoming the county's professional coach. He was one of three national coaches to be appointed in England in 1974, the other two being Keith Andrew and Bob Carter.
John Abrahams, Graham Lord, Graham Saville and David Lloyd have since joined the fray.
Lenham was of the opinion that a top class cricketer does not necesarily make a good coach.
``A school teacher who has played a fair amount of first-class cricket, could become a very good coach at the highest level because he has the ability to gain and impart knowledge quite successfully to his students,'' observed Lenham.