Ashes 2023: I’d do anything for this team – Nathan Lyon on his decision to bat despite calf strain

Test matches are all about putting your body on the line for your team and that’s what Australia’s veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon did on the penultimate day of the Lord’s Test match against England. Lyon, who suffered a calf strain on the second day of the Test match, hobbled out to bat to the standing ovation of the Lord’s crowd.

Lyon, who is playing his 100th consecutive Test, revealed he will do anything for his team. The right-hander batted at number 11 and added 15 runs with Mitchell Starc to help Australia post 279 runs in the second essay.

The veteran scored four runs and showed all the courage to walk out to bat despite being in a lot of pain.

As quoted by The Evening Standard, he said: “I’ve been pretty shattered, I’ve been in tears, I’ve been upset and been hurting. This team means everything to me. I’ll start this rehab journey now to get back, to keep playing this role. I love what I do.

Lyon added he always wants to give his absolute best and has no regrets of walking to bat despite being injured.

“I knew the risks, but the way I look at it, I’d do anything for this team, and you never know how big a 15-run partnership could be in an Ashes series. I’m proud of myself for going out and doing that, if it was tomorrow I’d do it again.”

The veteran added he was waiting in the long room at Lord’s when Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were batting as he would have been dismissed via Timed Out if he had come from the dressing room after the fall of wicket.

“I had to go down and wait down in the long room because otherwise I would have been timed out. The lifts here are pretty slow, so I had to go down the stairs.

“I didn’t know how long Josh was going to hang in there. It was interesting being in the long room. I felt like I was in the zoo, a lot of eyes on me, watching what we were doing and listening to what we were saying.”

Nathan Lyon is now expected to be ruled out of the rest of the Ashes and Todd Murphy, who impressed one and all on India’s tour, will play in the third Test at Headingley.