Nathan Lyon Archives

Nathan Lyon sustains ‘significant strain’, doubtful for Ashes remainder

MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia (CA) on Friday, confirmed that off-spinner Nathan Lyon’s participation in the Ashes remainder is in extreme doubt as he suffered a “significant strain” to his right calf which will require a “period of rehabilitation”.

“Nathan Lyon has been diagnosed with a significant calf strain,” a Cricket Australia spokesman said on Friday.

“He will require a period of rehabilitation after this match is concluded. A decision regarding his availability for the remainder of the series will be made at the conclusion of the game.”

Earlier on Friday, veteran off-spinner arrived at the Lord’s on crutches for the third day of the ongoing second Ashes Test.

Nathan Lyon, who limped off the field from the second session on Thursday after sustaining a calf injury while fielding, looked distraught as he got medical attention on the boundary while his teammate Steve Smith hinted the off-spinner could be out of action for “a while”.

The incident happened after Nathan Lyon was spotted hobbling out with the physio in the 37th over of England’s innings briefly after completing his spell. Lyon appeared to be in obvious distress as he chased a ball to the fence and was promptly taken off from the field.

Nathan Lyon required crutches to join his teammates at Lord’s on Friday morning, as he limped into the ground’s iconic pavilion. His right calf was also covered in a bandage, with Australia expected to give an update on his fitness shortly.

The off-spinner had incidentally become just the sixth player, and the first-ever bowler, to play 100 consecutive Tests in the same match on Wednesday.

“That’s something I’m really proud of. To be able to tick off 100 consecutive Test matches, that’s a proper stat in my head,” Nathan Lyon had said ahead of the Test. “That’s a lot of Test cricket, a lot of ups and downs. No wonder I’ve got no hair.”

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Major blow likely for Australia as Nathan Lyon reaches Lord’s on crutches

LONDON: Australia’s veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon on Friday, arrived at the Lord’s on crutches for the third day of the ongoing second Ashes Test.

The incident happened after Lyon was spotted hobbling out with the physio in the 37th over of England’s innings briefly after completing his spell. Lyon appeared to be in obvious distress as he chased a ball to the fence and was promptly taken off from the field.

Cricket Australia had provided an update that Nathan Lyon sustained an injury to his right calf while fielding during the final session and will be assessed after the conclusion of the second day’s play.

“Update from the Australian team: Nathan Lyon suffered an injury to his right calf injury while fielding in the final session today. He will be further assessed after play,” cricket.com.au tweeted.

Meanwhile, Nathan Lyon required crutches to join his teammates at Lord’s on Friday morning, as he limped into the ground’s iconic pavilion. His right calf was also covered in a bandage, with Australia expected to give an update on his fitness shortly.

The off-spinner had incidentally become just the sixth player, and the first-ever bowler, to play 100 consecutive Tests in the same match on Wednesday.

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Mitchell Starc returns to Australia’s Playing XI for second Ashes Test

LONDON: Left-arm speedster Mitchell Starc has been recalled to Australia’s Playing XI for the second Ashes Test against England.

Experienced pacer Mitchell Starc was added back to the reigning World Test Champions Playing XI and replaced Scott Boland, who was targetted by the English batters in the first Ashes Test in Birmingham.

Earlier in the first Test of the ongoing, Australia captain Pat Cummins opted to leave out Mitchell Starc, who went for aplenty in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against India at the Oval and lost his spot to right-arm pacer Josh Hazlewood, who returned to the side after recovering from Achilles and side issue.

However, at the commencement of the second Ashes Test on Wednesday the hosts England opted to bowl first. Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins shared his team’s lineup which included Starc.

Meanwhile, England had already unveiled their Playing XI for the second Test which marked the return of young pacer Josh Tongue and replaced Moeen Ali, who suffered a blister on his right hand’s index finger during the first Ashes Test which saw England succumbing to a narrow two-wicket defeat after Pat Cummins’s masterclass.

Tongue’s inclusion meant England went with an all-pace attack for the second Ashes Test at Lord’s which “offers more to the seamers”.

“We turned up here and have seen a lot of grass on the wicket, it is a bit green,” said Ben Stokes.

“Traditionally Lord’s offers more for seamers and with how Mo’s finger has recovered, actually recovered really well, I thought we would get more with four seamers and went with Tongue,” he added.

Unlike England, Australia decided against an all-pace attack and kept Nathan Lyon in their lineup, who became the first specialist bowler to appear in 100 consecutive Tests.

Additionally, Nathan Lyon is five wickets away from becoming the eighth bowler to claim 500 Test wickets.

Playing XIs

England: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, James Anderson.

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wkt), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

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WATCH: Harry Brook gets out in bizarre fashion in first Ashes Test

BIRMINGHAM: England’s batting prodigy Harry Brook had no luck in his favour as the right-handed succumbed to a bizarre dismissal on the opening day of the first Ashes Test.

The dismissal came in the 38th over when Nathan Lyon came to bowl for Australia with Harry Brook on strike. The young right-handed batter looked well set batting on 32.

Lyon bowled a shorter length, it spun sharply and bounced, hit the thigh pad and bounced high up in the air.

Australia’s wicketkeeper Alex Carey and other Australia close-in called for a catch with all of them leaving the sight of the ball.

But the ball after remaining in the air for a couple of seconds landed on Harry Brook’s back and deflected onto the stumps to complete a bizarre dismissal for him.

Bagging a bizarre dismissal, he smiled and walked back to the dugout in disgust.

Taking to Twitter, England Cricket also shared the footage of Harry Brook’s unlucky dismissal and called it a ‘Freak Dismissal’.

A freak dismissal.

Live clips/Scorecard: https://t.co/TZMO0eJDwY pic.twitter.com/cIUQaANJ2x

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 16, 2023

Notably, before the commencement of the Ashes, Harry Brook issued a warning to Nathan Lyon, stating that he is going to “take Nathan Lyon on”.

“if he bowls a good ball then I am going to respect it. But other than that, I’m going to try and take him on. He could get a lot of wickets, but hopefully, we are going to hit him for a lot of runs, said Brook in an ICC released statement.

“I would like to think I am a player who can find gaps and hit different gaps, I try and play all around the wicket. I will see whatever field he has; I am sure they will probably start from everybody up and we will go from there,” he added.

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Lyon 8-for gives Australia hope in third India Test

INDORE: Nathan Lyon took eight wickets on Thursday to give Australia a glimmer of hope of beating India in the third Test — provided they can avoid another calamitous batting collapse.

On a dramatic day two in Indore, Australia’s batting imploded only for the tourists to fight back and bowl out India for 163, giving them a victory target of 76.

Cheteshwar Pujara top-scored with 59, caught brilliantly at slip by Australia captain Steve Smith, with Lyon taking figures of 8-64 on a treacherous spinning wicket.

Having skittled India for just 109 on day one, Australia resumed on 156-4 but collapsed to 197 all out before lunch, their last six wickets tumbling for just 11 runs.

Cameron Green and Peter Handscomb did well to survive the first hour on a pitch with unpredictable bounce, the tall Green using his long stride to neutralise India’s spin attack.

But after the drinks break, Handscomb departed for 19, caught by Shreyas Iyer at short leg off Ravichandran Ashwin, having added 12 to his overnight score.

Soon afterwards Green fell for 21, trapped lbw by Umesh Yadav, who then bowled Mitchell Starc for one, sending the left-hander’s off-stump cartwheeling towards wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat.

In a dizzying disintegration, Alex Carey then departed for three, lbw to Ashwin, seamer Umesh bowled Todd Murphy for a duck and Nathan Lyon was cleaned up by Ashwin for five.

Ashwin took 3-44 and Umesh 3-12.

India sensed their chance and openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill survived a tricky 10 minutes before lunch.

But after the break, Gill was beaten for spin as he tried to hit across the line and was bowled middle stump for five by Lyon.

Skipper Rohit was then trapped lbw by Lyon for 12.

Virat Kohli looked to take on Matthew Kuhnemann, who took five wickets in the first innings, cutting the spinner for a glorious four, only to be trapped lbw the following ball for 13.

This sent a hush around the rowdy Indore ground but Pujara gave the home crowd something to cheer about, reducing the deficit by smashing Kuhnemann for a succession of boundaries.

Lyon though proved a handful, particularly for Ravindra Jadeja, who was out lbw for seven just before the break to leave India reeling.

In the final session, Iyer made an entertaining 26 that included two sixes before being caught brilliantly by Usman Khawaja at short midwicket off Starc.

Bharat was bowled by Lyon for three and Ashwin fell for 16, lbw to Lyon for his fifth scalp, Australia successfully overturning a not-out decision on review.

Marnus Labuschagne dropped Pujara off Kuhnemann when he was on 50, diving to his left at short cover, getting two hands to the ball but failing to keep hold of it.

Pujara battled on, making the Australians work hard before captain Smith took a brilliant diving catch to his right at slip off the bowling of Lyon.

The very next ball Umesh was given out lbw off Lyon but was reprieved on review. The ball after that Umesh slogged to the boundary where he was caught just inside the rope by Green.

Soon afterwards, Lyon clean bowled Mohammed Siraj to give the Australian his eighth scalp, and the hapless Indian number 11 his second duck of the match.

Lyon takes six as Australia win 1st Test against West Indies

PERTH: Spin king Nathan Lyon bagged six wickets, including century-maker Kraigg Brathwaite, as Australia ground down a gutsy West Indies to win the first Test in Perth by 164 runs on Sunday.

Skipper Brathwaite, who took the match into a final day with a defiant overnight 101 after Australia declared their second innings at 182-2 on day four, couldn’t keep the momentum going against Lyon and was bowled for 110.

The Caribbean team resumed on 192-3, needing to bat through 90 overs for a draw after gamely rebuffing an attack missing the injured Pat Cummins for two sessions on Saturday.

But they were all out for 333 after some plucky late resistance.

Lyon ended with 6-128, in the process surpassing India’s Ravichandran Ashwin to become the eighth-highest wicket-taker in Test history with 446.

“The batters did their job, the quicks stood up, it was a fantastic all-round performance,” said Australian skipper Pat Cummins.

“Lyon is the most important bowler in our team, he keeps taking wickets. There wasn’t much on offer for the spinners, but he found out a way and kept picking wickets.”

It extended the West Indies’ 25-year run of failing to win a Test on Australian soil, with the hosts retaining the Frank Worrell Trophy ahead of the second, and final, Test in Adelaide starting Thursday.

“Obviously disappointed with the loss. We gave away the wickets in the first innings, but it was a good fight as a team and as a bowling unit,” said Brathwaite.

“It’s good to see the fight from the batters, but still a lot of improvement to be done.”

Brathwaite said after his day four exploits that the opening overs would be “very, very crucial”, and in front of a spartan crowd, it was Australia who prevailed.

Kyle Mayers, who has been ruled out of any further bowling in the two-Test series with a shoulder strain, added just 10 runs to his overnight nought.

Lyon made the breakthrough, with Mayers getting a thick edge to Steve Smith at slip.

Brathwaite was almost chanceless in making his 100, but Lyon, in his 111th Test, finally beat the bat and he was bowled.

“I was pretty happy with that one. Kraiggy batted extremely well, he’s a superstar batsman and I had to be patient,” said Lyon.

Part-time spinner Travis Head was brought on and in his first over accounted for Jason Holder for three, with Smith taking a spectacular slip catch.

When Australia took the new ball, Josh Hazlewood enticed an outside edge from Joshua Da Silva which Usman Khawaja collected at second slip to leave the West Indies in trouble.

But Rostan Chase and Alzarri Joseph (43) put up resistance, adding 82 for the eighth wicket before Head stepped up again to bowl Joseph.

Lyon took his fifth to remove Chase for a battling 55, then Kemar Roach for a duck to wrap it up.

Double tons

The West Indies never recovered from a dominant Australian first-innings batting display with Marnus Labuschagne and Smith both smacking double centuries to propel them to 598-4 declared.

After the West Indies were removed for 283 in reply, Labuschagne belted 104 not out to become only the eighth player to achieve the 200-100 feat in the same Test, joining the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara and Kumar Sangakkara.

While outplayed, a young West Indies did show grit.

Few expected them to take the game to five days against the world’s top-ranked side, with their new opening partnership of Brathwaite and debutant Tagenarine Chanderpaul showing promise.

But their bowlers let them down, taking just six wickets for 780 runs.

Their stocks were, however, depleted with allrounder Raymon Reifer ruled out injured before a ball was bowled.

Top-order batsman Nkrumah Bonner suffered a concussion, Mayers was unable to bowl in the second innings with a shoulder strain and Roach limped off with a hamstring niggle.

With the injuries piling up, uncapped Marquino Mindley has been called up as cover for the Adelaide Test.

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Lyon surpasses Kapil Dev to join top 10 list of leading Test wicket-takers

GALLE: Australian spinner Nathan Lyon has earned a remarkable achievement to his credit as he became the 10th leading wicket-taker in Test cricket with 436 wickets, surpassing former Indian captain Kapil Dev, who took 434 wickets.

Lyon reached the milestone in the first Test against Sri Lanka after he ripped through the opponent’s batting, claiming nine wickets in the match to take his side towards a comfortable victory by 10 wickets.

The newest member of the top 10:

Nathan Lyon.#SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/snaZA1a6un

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) July 1, 2022

The 34-year-old off-spinner stood 10th in the list, topped by Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralidaran with 800 wickets.

Lyon has become the third Australian in the top-ten list of leading Test wicket-taker after Shane Warne, 708 wickets, and Glenn McGrath, 563 wickets.

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Lyon, Head storm Sri Lanka as Australia clinch first Test within three days

GALLE: Nathan Lyon and Travis Head wreaked havoc on the Sri Lankan batting line to wrap up the rain-hit first Test within the three days as Australia crushed the hosts by 10 wickets, here on Friday.

Sri Lanka showcased a dismal batting performance in the second inning after trailing by a deficit of 109 runs. The hosts hardly managed to avoid an innings defeat, amid the complete collapse of the batting order.

Australian bowlers completely dismantled the Sri Lankan batting as the team was bowled out on 113 with the last six wickets falling in quick succession and added just 18 runs to the total. Only four Sri Lankan batters managed to step into double figures with skipper Dimuth Karunaratne topping the scorecard with 23 runs.

Lyon and Head starred with the bowl to force this Sri Lankan collapse by bagging four wickets each. Meanwhile leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson also grabbed two wickets.

After being put to bat the second time for chasing a meager target of 5 runs, the tourists utilized only four balls with Usman Khuwaja hitting a six and a four to culminate the Australian dominance in style.

Earlier, Australia started the processing of Day 3 by resuming their first inning with an overnight score of 313/8 and managed to add only 8 runs before being bowled out on 321. Left-handed opener Usman Khawaja and all-rounder Cameron Green scored half-centuries on the rain-hit second day to tighten the grip of their side on the first Test.

Australia have now secured a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka with the second Test scheduled from July 8 to 12 at the same venue.

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Lyon’s five-fer puts Australia ahead on the opening day against Sri Lanka

GALLE: Australia’s off-spinner Nathan Lyon enjoyed a magnificent outing as he bagged an economical five-fer before the left-handed opener Usman Khawaja gave touring side a solid foundation on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka.

After opting to bat first, the home side could only manage to score 212 despite a brilliant fifty from the wicket-keeper batter Niroshan Dickwella as the Australian spin attack undone his efforts to give their side an upper hand.

The hosts kept losing wickets at a regular interval and none of their batters besides Angello Mathews and Dickwella could resist much and fell short against the strong Australian bowling attack.

Dickwella top-scored for his side with a quick 58 off 59 balls, laced with six boundaries but he too could not take his side out of danger as Lyon struck for his fourth to end his astonishing knock. Matthews, on the other hand, was the notable run-getter as he scored 39 off 71.

For Australia, Lyon bagged five while Mitchell Swepson claimed three. The pacers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc made one scalp each.

In response to Sri Lanka’s 212, the Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja provided a solid foundation to the side as they put on a decent 47 runs for the first wicket.

Warner, who was scoring at a rapid pace, however, fell in the 10th over as Ramesh Mendis trapped the left-hander in his legs for 25. He faced 24 deliveries and smashed five boundaries.

The touring side then suffered a brief collapse as they slipped from 47-0 to 83-3 in exactly 10 overs. Khawaja, on the other hand, held his ground firm and kept the scoreboard ticking till the conclusion of the first day, whereas, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith perished cheaply amid the collapse.

Khawaja, who is three short of his half-century, will now resume the proceedings for Australia at 98/3 along with his counterpart Travis Head (6) on the second day of the ongoing Test.

Mendis with his two wickets remained the only Sri Lankan bowler to have opened his account on the first day.

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‘The goal is to whitewash Pakistan 3-0’ Australian spinner Nathan Lyon

RAWALPINDI: Australian Test spinner Nathan Lyon has revealed that he wants Australia to whitewash Pakistan 3-0 in the Benaud-Qadir Trophy, commencing here on March 4.

Lyon, while talking to a virtual press conference revealed that he is hopeful of Australia whitewashing Pakistan 3-0 in the upcoming Benaud-Qadir Trophy.

“There is a lot of confidence in the team after the Ashes’ triumph. We take the field with a mindset to win every game. Our target is to whitewash Pakistan 3-0,” he said.

Lyon, however, said it will be challenging for the touring side as the Aussies are playing an away Test series after 2019.

“We will be playing Test cricket after 2019 in away conditions. So I think it will be challenging for us,” he said.

“However, we will take the field against Pakistan with a positive mindset,” he added.

Lyon also highlighted his eagerness to bowl to Pakistan’s ace batter Babar Azam, saying that he is looking forward to bowling to Babar.

“I think Babar Azam is one of the greatest batters in modern cricket currently. I can not wait to bowl him in the Test series,” he said.

The Australian off-spinner and the former pitch curator also commented on the pitch for the Rawalpindi Test said he expects the pitch at Rawalpindi Stadium to be “pretty nice to bat on” for the first couple of days before taking some spin.

“Right now the pitch is shining, the first two days will help the batting, while it may also assist the spin later,” he said.

Lyon, on the other hand, remained tight-lipped on the idea of playing with two spinners, while also hinting towards part-timers Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.

The right-arm spinner also revealed that the 34-years-old is feeling proud to tour Pakistan for the historic tour.

“I am very happy and proud to be a part of the team that is coming to Pakistan after 24 years,” he said.

“Australia playing cricket in Pakistan is important for world cricket and Pakistani cricket fans. Not only in Australia but also in Pakistan, Australian players can become role models by playing cricket in the country,” he added.

It is apropos to mention here that the Benaud-Qadir Trophy will roll into action from March 4. The three-match series will take place in Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Lahore respectively.

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