Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels that Nathan Lyon’s injury will be a huge loss for the Australian team going forward in the series. The 35-year-old sustained an injury trying to chase down the ball on the 37th over of the England innings, as he walked out of the field in pain.
The off-spinner has been one of the world’s best bowlers for nearly a decade now. Lyon has not missed a single Test for Australia since he was recalled ahead of the 2013 Ashes Test at Old Trafford and He is likely to miss out on the next encounter due to a calf injury.
Speaking on the Cricbuzz after the Day 2 play, Michael Vaughan believes that the spinner injury will be a cause of concern for the Baggy Green going into the next three games. Vaughan said that it won’t be an easy chase for the England team despite the unavailability of Nathan Lyon in the 2nd innings and added Todd Murphy can be a good option in place of Lyon, as he has done well for them in the BGT 2023 and reckons that Travis Head can make an impact given to his brilliance with the bat recently.
“A huge loss. Especially If England can win here, it’s not going to be easy as they’re going to bat last even though England is a good chasing team, but if they can win here and take it to Leeds 1-1, it looks like Nathan’s going to be struggling for at least the next week or so.
“The lucky thing for Australia is that Todd Murphy is a good off-spinner. So they’ve got a lifeline with him as a replacement. He did well in India so he’s not Nathan Lyon but he is a decent off-spinner. I look at Travis Head on this kind of surface, the way he fires them in, he’ll be handy in the second innings,” Michael Vaughan said.
Lyon would have been a vital player for the Baggy Green going forward. He picked up 8 wickets in the 1st match and put in a partnership of unbeaten 55-runs for the 9th wicket alongside skipper Pat Cummins in the final session to take their team home on high octane clash.
Nathan Lyon Allows Pat Cummins To Rotate His Seamers – Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan said that Nathan Lyon is close to picking up 500 wickets in the longer format of the game as he also pick up some important wickets in the middle overs, holding one end of the bowling, to let the Australian pacer come hard at the England batters and can add some crucial runs for the team batting lower-down the order.
“But Nathan Lyon, so close to that 500th wicket, a brilliant bowler and not just in terms of getting wickets but he holds an end as well for the team and allows Pat Cummins to rotate his seamers from the other end. Also scores a few handy runs, brilliant in the field so a huge loss,” Michael Vaughan concluded.
Todd Murphy will be likely a replacement for Nathan Lyon in the forthcoming, as he did well for Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India as he bagged 14 scalps in the debut series.