In less than 100 days, Brendon McCullum-coached England side will tour Australia for the Ashes and the England team will hope to win The Ashes after a gap of ten years. The last time England won The Ashes was in 2015 when the Alaistair Cook led England team won the series 3-2 in England. Having played in seven Ashes series and with a total of 110 Ashes wickets under his belt, Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has opened up his tactical sledging ahead of the 2017-2018 Ashes. Lyon, who currently has a total of 562 wickets in his Test career, had told the English media “Could we end some careers? I hope so’ ahead of the 2017-18 Ashes and with Australia then winning the series, Lyon believes the ploy worked and it took pressure off wicket-keeper Tim Paine and batsman Cam Bancroft.
“Looking back at that, I did that on purpose. I wanted to make it about England, take a lot of pressure off ‘Painey’ and Cam Bancroft. Painey (Tim Paine) was coming back into the side, Cam (Bancroft) was making his debut, so there was a lot of pressure on our batting group, especially those young guys. I felt like my game was in a really good area, where I could be confident in backing up my skill (with words). I wanted to take some pressure off them. That’s part of the game – I think I did that, all the attention came to me, which is all right. I’ve always had the approach that I’ll do whatever it takes for this team, and whatever my role needs, whether it is taking heat, I’m more than happy to do that, or bowling off-breaks or going out and doing nightwatchman,” Lyon told Sydney Morning Herald.
During his 139 Test career so far, Lyon has taken a total of 100 wickets in The Ashes since 2013. His best haul in The Ashes came in the 2017-18 Ashes only when he claimed 21 wickets at an average of 29.23 and was the fourth highest wicket-taker in the series after Pat Cummins, Mitchel Starc and Josh Hazelwood. Lyon, who missed the last three Tests in the 2-2 drawn Ashes in 2023 due to a torn right calf, is expected to be England nemesis once again The Ashes this year With England taking the ‘Bazball’ approach under coach Brendon McCullum since 2022, Lyon believes the England side are now also trying to think about how to win games other being ‘pure entertainers’. “That’s the way they’re playing their cricket, which is totally fine by me. It’s shaping up for one hell of a summer. I think their approach has changed a little bit. They’ve got some stars in their cricket side who can win games of cricket off their own back. Joe Root, Ben Stokes and these guys. But it looks to me like they’ve totally changed their approach, and they’re trying to think about how to win games of cricket rather than just being pure entertainers. And they’ve played some decent cricket over the last little while,” added Lyon.
Lyon also has been hosting spin-bowling seminars in New South Wales this week and the 37- year-old, who is currently the seventh highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history with a total of 562 wickets, shared how he is concerned about spin bowling around the world. “I do care about spin bowling and I’m not saying this because I’m concerned about my position in the team. I know my role, I know how important spin bowling is, but there is a degree of me that’s concerned about spin bowling around the world, not just Australia, with the wickets we’re playing on.“If you look at spin bowling and your younger spin bowlers around the country whether they’re not getting the overs or the opportunities to bowl on day-three, day-four wickets, or spinning wickets, or even green seamers because the fast bowlers are dominating. Everyone focuses on the first 10 overs of a game and then usually the last couple of overs and how to win a game. But there’s a big part of the game where it can be quite hard to create chances or change the momentum of the game, and I feel like spin bowlers have the opportunity to do that. So I’m always going to fight for spin bowlers, and that’s my biggest concern,” shared Lyon.
