Nathan Lyon opens up on the ‘worst mistake’ he made after Ashes injury

Australian star cricketer Nathan Lyon has opened up on the brutal fallout he endured in the wake of his Ashes-ending injury.

“They’re not good enough to compete against us”.

They’re the eight words uttered by Nathan Lyon in the lead up to the 2023 Ashes series that was about to unfold in England.

Australia’s most successful off spin bowler in Test match cricket was certain of what the result was going to be during the upcoming series.

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While he’s known for tearing the heart out of a team with the ball in hand, Lyon played the role of hero with the willow alongside skipper Pat Cummins in the opening Test at Edgbaston.

Then, disaster.

On day two of the second Test at Lord’s, Lyon came in off the boundary to field a lofted Zak Crawley shot when he suffered a series-ending calf injury.

He knew straight away he was in trouble as he hobbled off the field and cut a shattered figure as the emotion spilled over in the dressing rooms.

The 36-year-old had captured nine wickets in three innings before the injury as Australia edged towards a 2-0 lead. Without Lyon in the team, England came roaring back to life with the series ultimately ending 2-2 as the Aussies retained the Ashes.

Lyon knows that if not for his injury, the series would have been a one-sided affair with England not standing a chance.

“4-0,” Lyon said in an interview with news.com.au.

“I honestly believe that. I go into every series, every game expecting to win.

“Looking at the two teams, looking at the brand of cricket we were playing I honestly do believe that I was the difference in the two teams and I do believe we would have won the Ashes.”

Lyon said the Aussies would’ve wiped the floor with the Poms. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Lyon sat in the dressing rooms for the remainder of the second Test and watched on as tensions exploded within Lord’s after Jonny Bairstow was stumped by Alex Carey.

As English fans raged and spewed vitriol in the direction of the Aussies, Lyon sat on watching it unfold and admitted he found the funny side in the incident.

“Very different for me. I was in the change rooms sitting on my crutches, but I was pretty surprised about Lord’s and the amount of abuse we were copping,” he said.

“But to be honest with you, it’s all part of the game and I don’t mind it so just carry on. I found it quite funny.

“There was a fair few guys surprised by the impact it had on the fans of the game, there was a lot of guys who found humour within it.

“That’s the Australian way, we found humour in it and in a way were able to brush it to the side and carry on doing what we do.

“At the end of the day we asked a question and the officials answered it.”

Where you going Jonny? Picture: Prime Video.

Lyon ultimately departed the team the day after the Lord’s Test and returned home, watching the series unfold while going through recovery from his injury.

It was in those moments watching on from 16,000km where Lyon fought his toughest battle he’d encountered throughout his career and saw him make one key “mistake”.

“Arguably the toughest battle I’ve had. I tried to sit on the lounge with Em and my dog and just remove the baggy green from my head and just watch the game as a cricket fan,” he said.

“I went to the pub one night to watch the first session but that was probably the worst mistake I did. I wasn’t drinking because of the injury, but I was getting pretty frustrated at the TV. I probably needed to do that behind closed doors.

“When I’ve been invested in Australian cricket for the last 14 years and since I debuted I was around every Test, I think it was 129 Tests in between that time, and then suddenly I was removed from that situation and I was at home watching what I care about, what I love and having no ability to have any impact on the game whatsoever it was pretty hard.”

Lyon was shattered after suffering the injury. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

After initially thinking the injury could have spelt the end of his career, Lyon says he still has plenty of goals to tick off.

One of which includes returning to England and helping lead Australia to an Ashes series victory in 2027.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have incredible medical staff, incredible family around me and friends to get me through this,” Lyon said.

“I’ve done an extensive rehab so right now the calf feels amazing, body feels really good. The goal is definitely there to come over and perform in 2027, but there’s a lot of cricket and a lot of goals that I want to tick off before then.

“But that is the long term goal.”

Lyon is currently playing for Lancashire in the County Championship where he helped guide them to their first win of the season when they toppled Ben Stokes’ Durham.

– The Test Season 3 is out to Prime Video on May 24

Originally published as Nathan Lyon opens up on the ‘worst mistake’ he made after Ashes injury