‘Get them out': Lyon has a dig at England over Manchester tantrum
Nathan Lyon was trying to be careful, but there was no denying the sting in his assessment of what England might have done instead of throwing a tantrum at the end of the drawn Manchester Test.
As attention starts to turn towards the Ashes on Australian soil this summer, Lyon spoke eagerly about the prospect of being attacked by the Bazballers – unsurprisingly given how well he fared against them before the calf injury that curtailed his 2023 England tour.
'I totally expect them to come out and attack me,' Lyon said at a Melbourne Renegades sponsor event in Melbourne. 'I think every touring team says they're going to come and attack the spinner, so I'm pretty used to that now.
'Guys trying to attack me brings me into the game. So I'm looking forward to that. I've got some plans, and I'm already writing down a few things I want to try to put in play and work on.
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'That's England and the way they're playing their cricket, so it's amazing theatre and something I love viewing.'
Lyon added that he expected Australian pitches to be similarly sporting to those prepared for India last summer, when the hosts prevailed 3-1 in a seesawing series that was in doubt until the final game at the SCG. He is no fan of the featureless, batter-friendly pitches being used in the England v India series.
'I think Bazball has changed a little bit, they're now honestly talking about ways of how to win games and not being too reckless,' he said. 'But the conditions over here, it's alway been a great competition between bat and ball and that's the way Australia's produced wickets like that.
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