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The Australia national cricket team was on tour to Bangladesh and ended losing the ODI series 2-1, and now it’s time for the T20I series, where they will play three matches before hosting the Bangla Tigers for a two-match Test series in August. Ahead of the Test match, Nathan Lyon has given a big update on his retirement plans.
The veteran off-spinner has telephoned Australia’s selectors to insist he can still play every Test as he enters the final stages of his recovery from a “very painful” hamstring injury. Lyon has been out of action since rupturing his hamstring in the third Ashes Test in December. However, his rehabilitation is on track to be fit for the home series against Bangladesh in Darwin and Mackay.
Nathan Lyon ready for Bangladesh Test, refuses to retire
Nathan Lyon has left no stone unturned to achieve full fitness. He has been working out in the gym five days a week and road cycling for his recovery, has since covered 700km, and is back to running at almost full intensity. Lyon remains an important player for Australia in the traditional formats of the game.
The off-spinner bowled at Cricket Central in Sydney on Monday morning and plans to bowl on turf wickets against the batsmen in the coming days. Cricket Australia physical performance coach Ross Herridge said, “It’s been quite a long process since the Adelaide Test. We’re probably two-thirds of the way through now… It’s a very painful injury.”
We got markers through this process – Ross Herridge
“We’ve got markers through the process, physical markers, that we check for along the way. So far he’s hit all of them.” Earlier, chief selector George Bailey had said that Nathan Lyon would miss all the matches due to an injury he sustained during the Ashes.
Lyon said he worked hard to fully recover from the surgery so that he could participate in every match as Australia prepare for 21 Test matches in the year starting in August. Australia, apart from Bangladesh, plays South Africa away from home, then hosts New Zealand at the end of the year and later travels to India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in January 2027.
I am ready to play in every Test match for which I am available – Nathan Lyon
“I saw George’s comments; he had a phone call. I saw Andrew’s comments; he had a phone call,” Nathan Lyon said as Australian international summer tickets went on sale on Monday. “If I didn’t want to play every Test match I wouldn’t be doing all this work right now.”
“No one deserves to be selected for Australia, so I know I need to make sure I’m performing, doing all the right things, but I’m ready in my heart and mind to play every Test match I’m available for. I know how hungry I am… and I’m addicted to training.”
“I’m used to trying to get better every day, so trying to get back to the fitness level (I was at before the injury) was never a concern for me.”