Nathan Lyon defied the odds when he took the field in the second inning of Lord's. Photo: Reuters/Matthew Childs < p>Australian Nathan Lyon, despite a serious calf injury, came out at bat number 11 to Lord's applause. yet to be confirmed, many expect him to be dropped from the series. He landed on the third and fourth days on crutches, with heavy straps on his lower legs.
a brutal blow for an Australian player who, while playing at Lord's, became the first bowling specialist to play 100 Test matches in a row. Photo: PA/Mike Egerton.
When Australia set a fourth inning target for England, the idea arose that Lyon could bat if they needed to. As the eighth wicket, Pat Cummins, fell, Australia's regular No. 11, Josh Hazlewood, rose above Lyon. But Lion was also hit and went down from the Australian dressing room to the Long Room, where he waited for the ninth gate to fall.
We didn't. I don't think we'll see it today!
He arrived on crutches, but Nathan Lyon has already come down the stairs at the Lord's and is ready to go into battle! pic.twitter.com/vi1AeXQEi1
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket), July 1, 2023
It happened the right way: Hazlewood put Ben Stokes on the short leg. Australia had 355 points ahead. Mitchell Stark, not yet at bat, decided the pitch was over and headed back to the pavilion, only to spot Lyon walking down the stairs.
It took Lyon one minute and 48 seconds to get from the steps to the first ball thrown at him. He received applause from the Lord's crowd — both English and Australian fans — as he made his way to the middle.
A standing ovation for Nathan Lyon who is limping after arriving at Lord on crutches today 👏 pic.twitter.com/lPQCFVUbYr
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 1 2023
He pulled his first ball out of Stokes into a deep square foot before realizing he couldn't run one. However, he had to run the next time Stark pulled Stuart Broad to the leg boundary, where England substitute Rehan Ahmed made a brilliant jump stop.
Assuming it would be six, both batsmen went to the middle of the field when Lyon had to move to his own ground as quickly as possible because the ball was thrown towards the wicket. The Australian balcony, led by Pat Cummins, shuddered in unison.
Lyon (pictured) and Mitchell Stark forged an invaluable 15-run partnership to take Australia to 279 last wicket. Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth jpg» /> Lyon struggled to launch even a single during his time in the fold. Photo: PA/Adam Davy
Australia added 15 while Lyon were on the brink, giving England a target of 371 to win. This included a four from Lyon — one of the many great shots he played, to the delight of the Australian fans. Lyon left to an enthusiastic reception, including from the English players who praised him.
My day with Lyon's biggest fans
Shubi Arun, at Lord's
«He's a fucking legend, isn't he?»
The Australian group in the upper half of the Mound Stand were delirious when the woman to my left leaned towards me. Until then, they had remained in place for most of the day, but when Nathan Lyon came out to bat, everyone jumped to their feet.
Perhaps the stoicism of the Australian end was best explained by a conversation I had with a steward in the stands, who wanted to know why I had been standing at the railing for the last couple of hours.
When I explained to him that I was there to capture the atmosphere of the Australian end of the day, which could mean the demise of Bazball, he shook his head in confusion.< /p>
“Atmosphere?” he laughed. , «here and there not much»?
After a few hours I understood why. The Australian End was a study of Stoicism. Conspicuous in their yellow hats and green shirts, the 300 or so fans almost never left their seats. Going to bars to fill your cups was infrequent. The ball of the session was hardly missed to go out and chat in the hall, and the conversation hardly moved through the ranks. Singing, perhaps the most egregious act of the fandom, was also missing.
It buzzed with quiet activity like a beehive. Like the steward, the English fans who surrounded them were also puzzled by their behaviour. Their lack of singing also annoyed them at Edgbaston, where they constantly scolded them for their lack of vocals. Five days of non-stop pricking finally got the Aussie fans out on their acoustics as they finally let go of all inhibitions and played «Waltzing Matilda».
Telegraph Sport correspondent among Australian fans of Lord's Photo: Shubi Arun
They didn't need a few thousand drunken English fans to find a voice. All it took was a beleaguered 35-year-old bum with half a calf. The energy in the stands was seething as the image of Nathan Lyon making his way to the Long Room from the dressing room appeared on the big screen.
From then until the moment he went into battle, the word «goat» was mentioned more often than in American sports talk shows. It was an incredible theatrical performance and the Australian side decided it was time to get involved as the audience got noisier. The atmosphere, the absence of which the steward had ridiculed, crystallized.
From the moment he came out to bat until his dismissal 13 balls later, not a single person at the yellow end of the stands took a seat. As he reached the border through the middle gate on the Broad, there were chants of «Harry.» It was as if everyone was saving their energy just for this moment. It was the latest push in what had previously been a period of exhaustion.
The number of times Lyon went from bat to ball was surprisingly high, and Australian fans were delighted with the fact that it extended to stay in line as they did, in how much it annoyed the English fans around them.
Lyon's serve was fleeting, but during those thirty minutes Lord's Mound End seemed to be the center of the sporting world. For the rest of the day, the T-shirts of an Australian tour group were the loudest sound.
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