Ashes 2021-22: Follow all the latest news from the England camp ahead of the first Test

England has conceded it has not played Nathan Lyon well on previous tours of Australia and revealed how it plans to avoid a repeat in this summer’s Ashes.

Michael Vaughan working with Fox Cricket. Picture: AAP Images

England has revealed they plan to go ‘GOAT hunting’ at the Gabba, with Stuart Broad adamant taking down spinner Nathan Lyon is the key to Australia’s downfall.

As potent as Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc are with the ball, it’s Lyon who England believe is Australia’s barometer bowler.

India dominated the record-breaking off-spinner last summer, but Lyon has an excellent Ashes record against England particularly on home soil.

Broad declared England’s batsmen simply must sharpen their swords against Lyon if they’re to break their drought in Australia.

“We’ve studied what Hazlewood, Cummins and Starc have done for a long period of time and the role Nathan Lyon plays, I actually think he’s their key man,” Broad told News Corp.

“He’s so consistent and it allows their bowlers to bowl the spells and overs they do.

“India played him really well and I think that helped play a key role in India winning that series, how they played him here.

“Our batters have to look at that. We’ve played Lyon in Australia very poorly for long periods of time. This is the series where that has to change.”

England is planning to go after Nathan Lyon in the Ashes.

Lyon has already flagged he has a couple of new mystery balls to hit England with at the Gabba on Wednesday.

Broad predicted that would happen in advance and has laughed it off as Lyon gamesmanship, imploring his batters not to be distracted from the real threat of control and consistency.

England have acknowledged they have a Lyon problem and are focused on doing something about it.

“He’s someone who brings great control in the first innings (and can take wickets). We’ve got to play him better, there’s no getting away from that,” said Broad.

“We can’t put our heads in the sand and pretend we’ve played him well.

“We know he’s probably going to come out before the Test with how he’s got a new mystery ball, that’s rubbish.

“But he’s just a really consistent bowler at what he does. He’s a top spin bowler who gets good bounce. We know, we’ve played enough against him now to know what he does. Let’s find a better way to play him.

Lyon gestures while bowling during an Ashes Test.

“We know at the Gabba he’ll come in around the corner and try and get you to play to the fence, and you turn around and you’re caught at leg gully. We know what he’s going to do. Can we counteract that with our own style?

“You don’t play 100 Tests unless it’s for a good reason, but can we find a way? … if we can play him as well as India did then, well, the results were clear.”

Test great Warne believes Lyon is under pressure going into the first Test and has called on him to adopt the mindset of being a “weapon” once again.

Nathan Lyon appeals for a wicket.

According to Warne, Lyon tried to bowl too defensively like Indian counterpart Ravi Ashwin last summer.

“I think his strategy and tactics (need to improve). He’s been bowling a lot more middle and leg stump and with a packed on-side field like he did last summer, it looked like he was trying to copy Ashwin or basically going into a containing role,” said the Fox Cricket analyst.

“He lost all his impact of actually being a weapon. And when you’ve got over 300 on the board on the last day and the spinner is bowling, you have to be a weapon.

VAUGHAN FORCED TO DELAY AUSSIE ARRIVAL

Michael Vaughan is set to miss the start of the Ashes series due to a positive Covid test as BT Sport confirmed it will not use the former England cricket captain in its upcoming coverage of the series following allegations of racism made by Azeem Rafiq.

Vaughan was due to fly out to Australia to commentate on the series for Fox Sports, but revealed on Monday night he had to delay his trip due to a Covid and now looks set to miss the Brisbane Test match starting on December 8 and possibly even the second Test in Adelaide.

“I’ve had to delay my flight to Australia until next week because of a positive Covid test, which is frustrating,” Vaughan tweeted.

“But at least I’ll avoid the rain in Brisbane for a few days! And I’ll be no more under cooked than both teams when I get there!! #Ashes”

I've had to delay my flight to Australia until next week because of a positive Covid test, which is frustrating. But at least I'll avoid the rain in Brisbane for a few days! And I'll be no more under cooked than both teams when I get there.!! #Ashes

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 1, 2021

English cricket has been rocked by racism revelations from Pakistan-born Rafiq. He recently gave harrowing testimony to lawmakers in which he said his career had been ended by the racist abuse he received while at English county Yorkshire.

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Michael Vaughan is set to miss the start of the Ashes series due to a positive Covid test. Picture: Jonathan Ng

These included an allegation Vaughan told the now 30-year-old Rafiq and other Yorkshire players of Asian origin there were “too many of you lot, we need to do something about it” during a county match in 2009.

Two of the other players in question, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and England spinner Adil Rashid, have corroborated the accusation.

Vaughan, 47, categorically denies the allegation.

BT Sport has exclusive UK TV rights for the five-match series between Australia and England which is scheduled to start on December 8.

But due to Covid and travel restrictions, BT Sport had planned to take a feed from Australia’s Fox Sports channel, where Vaughan is a member of the commentary panel.

BT Sport said it was now considering a “hybrid approach” for the Tests where Vaughan would be involved.

This could see BT Sport putting its own team in place, or opting to use a different host broadcaster such as Australia’s Channel 7.

“The recent report presented to UK Parliament uncovering institutional racism within cricket, and specifically Yorkshire County Cricket Club, is extremely disappointing and a concern for all,” a BT Sport statement said Wednesday.

“Given these recent events and the controversy with the situation, we have taken the decision that including Michael Vaughan within our Ashes coverage would not be editorially appropriate or fit with BT Sport’s values.

“We are still finalising plans but we are assessing the option of taking a hybrid approach, using Fox commentary where possible with the aim of putting our own commentary team in place if necessary.”

After being stood down from his BBC radio show last month, Vaughan was subsequently left out of the broadcaster’s coverage because of a potential “conflict of interest”.

Last week Vaughan apologised in a BBC interview for the pain experienced by Rafiq but still insisted he had not made a racist remark to the former bowler.

Michael Vaughan working with Fox Cricket. Picture: Getty Images

Wednesday saw the BBC confirm Vaughan, an Ashes-winning skipper in 2005, remained “on contract” and talks were continuing over his return to air.

A BBC statement issued Wednesday said: “We’re in regular contact with Michael and have had positive conversations with him in recent days.

“Our contributors are required to talk about relevant issues, so Michael’s involvement in a story of such significance means it’s not possible for him to be part of our Ashes coverage or wider cricket coverage at the moment.

“We’re pleased with how our conversations are going and expect to work with Michael again in the future. He remains on contract to the BBC.”

Last week also saw the England and Wales Cricket board publish a 12-point action plan to tackle racism and all forms of discrimination.

England managing director Ashley Giles, who played under Vaughan, backed the plan but warned cricket would “have a problem” in the fight against racism unless it gave people “second chances”.