Nathan Lyon exclusive video: The fear, and private conversations, that delivered Lord’s Ashes heroics

With the thought of never featuring in the Ashes again, Nathan Lyon told Pat Cummins he wanted to bat with a badly torn calf. The Aussie skipper just laughed. Here’s what happened next.

It was one of the most enduring images of the Ashes but the coach had to overrule the Australian captain to make it happen.

Nathan Lyon has revealed in part two of the exclusive reliving of his Ashes rollercoaster the secret dressing room debate that erupted over whether he should be allowed to bat after a badly torn calf had consigned him to crutches midway through the second Test at Lord’s.

Australia ultimately won the Test by 43 runs but the 15 that a hobbling Lyon put on with Mitchell Starc to complete the second innings proved to be critical in pushing a shaky total just out of reach of the rampaging Ben Stokes, who was mowing down the visitors like a runaway steam train in an epic final-day chase.

Psychologically, a target of 356 compared to 371 starts to look a hell of a lot skinnier to a freak like Stokes once the runs needed slides under 30.

The heroic final-wicket stand, when Lyon was almost batting on one leg, would never have happened if not for the intervention of Australian coach Andrew McDonald.

**WATCH LYON’S EXCLUSIVE BREAKDOWN OF THE FAMOUS LORD’S TEST IN THE VIDEO PLAYER AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE**

Nathan Lyon pushed through the pain barrier for Australia. Picture: Getty

Lyon, who couldn’t put on his own underwear or shoes, was sent out to bat against the wishes of captain Pat Cummins.

“So the conversation started about 7am when I woke up and Emma, my wife, had to help me into the shower,” Lyon said in another emotion-charged rewatching of his brief but seismic impact on the drawn Ashes.

“She had to help put my shoes on, jocks on, the whole kit and caboodle, because I couldn’t do much, especially two days after the bleeding. The pain was pretty real.

“And I said to Em, ‘just so you know, I’m going to go out to bat’.

“And she’s like, ‘you’re an idiot’. She plainly said, ‘you’re an idiot, you can’t walk, you can’t put any weight on it and you want to go out and bat?’

“When I got to the ground, Pat was on the massage table getting treatment from our doc and physio and I went up to them on my crutches and I said, ‘what are our thoughts about me batting? Because I want to bat.’

“Pat just looked at me and laughed and said, ‘Gaz, you’re not batting, get it out of your head’.

“The doc and the phys ended up laughing as well and said, ‘no, you’re not batting’.”

Lyon, hobbled and on crutches, speaks to Ricky Ponting before his batting heroics. Picture: Getty

Already aware he was out for the rest of the five-match series, ruminating in Lyon’s mind was the fear that he would never feature in another moment of Ashes cricket.

His dream to be part of Australia winning an Ashes series on English soil for the first time in more than two decades was suddenly a matter of life-or-death urgency in his mind.

Lyon had one more roll of the dice.

“I let that set for about two minutes and I walked straight to Andrew McDonald and I said, ‘Ronnie, I need to talk to you’,” Lyon said.

“He goes, ‘What’s up?’ I said, ‘I want to bat’.

“He goes, ‘good, I want you to bat as well’.

“I said, ‘perfect, can you go talk to the medical staff?’

“So then he got up and went over to the medical staff. Pat was still on the bed at this stage and I’m hobbled up behind him as a little Cheshire cat.

“Ronnie said, ‘I want Gaz to bat’.

“As soon as he said that, it went into the motion of, ‘OK, how are we going to do it?’”

Lyon had to convince the medical staff - and captain Pat Cummins - to be able to bat. Picture: Getty

HELD TOGETHER BY TAPE

Finally arriving at a contested decision to allow Lyon to bat was one thing but making it a physical possibility was quite another.

Motivated by the fact this could be his final act as an Ashes cricketer, Lyon was prepared to do whatever it took.

“I ended up getting strapping from knee down to my toes. I couldn’t move my foot,” Lyon said.

“I had about three heel raise (platforms) in my shoe. Basically, I had my foot outside my shoe.

“Then I had to go to into the physio room and practise how I was going to bat. I had to prove to the physio and doctor that I would be able to defend myself – but also look to score.

Lyon did some practice shots in the physio room to prove his fitness - before taking on England’s fearsome pace attack. Picture: Getty

“I did that for about 15 minutes but then wickets started to happen.

“I was joking with TD (Tony Dodemaide) our selector and he (previously) worked at the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) and knows Lord’s back to front.

I said, ‘Right, how am I going to get down there? I’m going to get timed out.’”

That was when Dodemaide hatched a plan to escort Lyon down the famous Lord’s staircase into the Long Room straight after Josh Hazlewood walked out to the middle, and hide him there until the ninth wicket fell.

The only problem was, Lyon and Dodemaide hadn’t counted on the Big Brother TV camera in the corner of the Long Room, which later in the Test would also capture the ugly clash between Australian players and the Members.

“I had a nice English gentleman say to me, ‘do you think you’ll be able to hit a six old chap?’ I said, ‘I think that might be a bit much, mate,’” Lyon said.

“I would do it again. It wasn’t ideal for Em, she ended up messaging Frankie our security guard to say, ‘Nathan’s not batting’.

“And Frank wrote back, ‘Um, yeah. You better come to the ground, he’s batting’.”

Nathan Lyon’s wife Emma was frantically texting team officials about his condition - before learning he was batting. Picture: Supplied

As intrigue grew as to whether or not Lyon would come out to bat, TV cameras captured him in the middle of the Long Room deep in conversation with England veteran James Anderson, who was off the field for a break.

“He was giving me advice about how to play to 40,” Lyon said.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?

If Lyon thought he had already got the evil eye from his captain on the massage table, it was nothing compared to the filthy reception he copped from batting partner Mitchell Starc when he eventually limped his way to the crease.

“Not so politely, ‘what are you doing?’ Lyon said of Starc’s abrupt greeting.

“I know Starcy wasn’t happy with me going out there.

“I said to him, ‘you went out with a broken foot to bat in New Zealand a few years ago, you can’t actually say anything’.

“He got grumpier and grumpier with every ball but I would do it every day of the week if I had to.

“Joe Root said, ‘what are you doing? This is just silly. Take yourself off’.

“But I’ve played enough Ashes cricket to know the importance of five, 10, 15-run partnerships. Whatever you can get.

“Especially me being a bowler down for the rest of the guys. I didn’t even consider not doing it.”

Mitchell Starc (R) was unimpressed when he saw Lyon walk out to bat. Picture: AFP

DOING IT FOR A CONCUSSION SUB

Lyon still bristles when listening to commentary from former England captain Andrew Strauss, who said what the Australian spinner was doing was “foolhardy” and a waste of time.

But his blood boils when he brings up comments made at the time by former England great Kevin Pietersen, who suggested on the coverage that Lyon had gone out to the middle in case he got hit in the head and could be subbed out of the match under the game’s concussion protocols.

“Especially when we’re sitting here at the SCG watching it and one of our mates (Phil Hughes) passed away after getting hit in the head,” Lyon said.

“I don’t think we should joke about that or even talk about that.

Kevin Pietersen raised the ire of the Australian team. Picture: Getty

“For me, I was just doing my job. It’s like a butcher cutting his finger and having to turn up to cut the rest of the meat. It’s my job.

“I care about the Australian cricket team and wanted to ensure I did my role to help the guys get a Test match win.”

PAIN-KILLERS DIDN’T WORK

Lyon describes the pain of batting for that 31-ball partnership as pure “agony”.

When Starc thought he had hit a six, only for the ball to be brilliantly fielded on the fence by England, Lyon discovered just how much agony he was in when he had to hop the 22 yards to complete a single and avoid being run out.

“Fair to say the drugs didn’t kick in until after, so I was pretty happy at the hotel,” Lyon said.

Lyon said England did him a favour by persisting with bowling short to him.

Lyon was in ‘agony’ during his short stint at the crease. Picture: Getty

The approach allowed Lyon to hit a miraculous boundary, when pitching the ball up would have made it impossible for him to survive.

“I felt I could go on the front foot and go towards it,’’ he said. “The shorter they bowled, the easier it was for me to play.

“I’ve done a lot of work on my pull shot the last couple of years. I knew I could play it.

“I had no power if they pitched it up. It was quite weird.”

LYON STILL HAUNTED BY THE MOMENT HIS CALF POPPED

Lyon was wearing sunglasses but behind the shades he was an emotional wreck within moments of hearing his calf go off like a gun shot during an innocuous piece of fielding during England’s first innings.

Immediately, he feared his career could be over.

“I think naturally, without understanding the magnitude of it, you naturally go there,” Lyon said.

“Jonesy our physio ran out and he was like, ‘you don’t know how bad it is, you don’t know’.

“I said, ‘I do. It’s done.’

Lyon said he knew instantly the severity of the injury - even before a conversation with the team physio. Picture: Getty

“I find it hard to talk about and it’s almost 20 weeks in the past.

“The emotions hit me when I hit the ground.

“I had to walk about 250m back to the changerooms with some English fans jeering, some showing their support.

“I can’t get that noise out of my head.

“Firstly, hearing my calf go, but also walking around (and hearing the crowd).

“I had sunglasses on but I had tears coming out left, right and centre because I knew I was done for that series.”

Lyon is helped from the field as the gravity of the injury sinks in. Picture: Getty

It was almost cruel. Lyon, who is an ironman of Test cricket, had played 99 consecutive Test matches without injury, only for his calf to burst midway through his 100th when everything was on the line.

“I just don’t think I’m meant to do anything good with 100s,’’ he said. “My 100th Test up at the Gabba, India chased down a record total on the last day.

“Now my teammates say I only played 99-and-a-half Tests. You can’t write the script.”

LYON’S LORD’S REGRET

Although English crowds were condemned for the way they booed Australia a day later when the Jonny Bairstow stumping incident exploded, the standing ovation Lyon received for his brave one-legged knock was something to behold at Lord’s.

It is something he wishes he had appreciated more as he walked off, head down, still consumed by the misery of his series being over and potentially his Ashes career.

“It’s something I didn’t take in at the time but looking back now, I wish I had,” Lyon said.

“It’s pretty amazing to see the level of respect coming from the majority of the English fans and obviously all the Australian fans as well. It was very humbling to see.

“Broady (England star, Stuart Broad) said, ‘that’s proper courage. I wouldn’t do something like that’.

“To hear or get praise from your opposition … it was nice to get that acknowledgment.

“It wasn’t until that night that Emma said, ‘have you seen this footage (of the crowd standing and applauding)? You really need to be proud of that.’”

Originally published as Nathan Lyon exclusive video: The fear, and private conversations, that delivered Lord’s Ashes heroics