Nathan Lyon passes prestigious Test cricket honour to teammate after 12 years

Nathan Lyon has made the surprising decision to give up one of Test cricket’s biggest honours to a teammate after more than a decade.

Nathan Lyon has decided to pass on the responsibility of being Australia’s team song master after more than a decade with the prestigious role.

The veteran offspinner revealed he made the call to pass the baton to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who officially led the team song for the first time last week after Australia’s win over the West Indies in the first Test in Barbados.

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Code Sports’ Dan Cherny reports Lyon wanted to pass on the songmaster duties to Carey after the World Test Championship Final, but South Africa’s win put those plans on ice, given the song is only sung after Test victories.

Lyon delivered a handwritten note to Carey’s hotel room in Barbados, informing him he had chosen the South Australian as the new master of Under the Southern Cross I Stand.

“He was pretty taken aback by it, but yeah, it was a pretty cool moment,” said Lyon, who clarified he has no plans to retire from Test cricket yet.

“There’s no talk about me retiring or even thoughts coming in my head. It’s more about the team environment, making sure that I get the opportunity to pass it onto someone who I look at and absolutely love and the way he goes about it on and off the field.

Nathan Lyon is giving up team song duties. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Alex Carey will take over the honour. (Photo by Randy Brooks / AFP)

“And I feel like Alex is the perfect candidate. I can’t feel like I’ve run my race with it, and it’s time for someone else to put their touch on.”

Carey had filled in as songmaster for three Tests during the 2023 Ashes when Lyon was out with a calf injury.

The 33-year-old joins Mike Hussey, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Allan Border and Rod Marsh as custodians of the song that gets belted out after a Test match win.

Hussey bestowed the honour to Lyon at the time of his retirement in early 2013, and it proved a prescient choice given the longevity of Lyon’s career.

“I wasn’t sure (who to choose) at the time because the team was in a bit of transition when I was coming to the end,” Hussey told news.com.au on Tuesday.

“I knew deep down Nathan was a great character and I hoped he’d go on to have a long career and thankfully he has.

Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith of Australia celebrate with teammates while singing the team song on the pitch after Australia claimed victory to retain the Ashes in 2019. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“I sort of made my mind up in my own mind and wrote Nathan a nice letter and just explained why I thought he was the right man to take on the great honour.

“Then we had a bit of a chat about it all and that was pretty much it. By the sound of it, it was a similar process with Nath passing it onto Alex.

“I think he’s led the song more than 120 times, he’s definitely done it justice.

Nathan Lyon of Australia leads the team song on the pitch at midnight after Australia’s 5-0 Ashes win in 2013-14. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“I think Alex will do the job wonderfully well. He’s a great guy, much loved in the team and really appreciates everything that goes with playing for Australia.

“He respects the history of the game, the traditions, the past players. He has great respect for that and he’s a great character. Hopefully some of his great traits get passed onto the next generation through the song.”

Hussey said he was initially worried Lyon was retiring from cricket when he heard he was giving up the songmaster duties.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” the beloved middle order batter said.

“I was holding by breath a bit wondering if Nathan was going to retire, but thankfully he’s not going.

Mike Hussey and Nathan Lyon after Hussey’s last Test. Photo: Phil Hillyard

“He’s led the song more than any of the songmasters and he probably got to the stage where he thought his time is done with it and it’s time to pass it on to someone else.

“He can probably just relax about it now because I knew he used to get a bit stressed when the time came to sing the song.”

The second Test in the West Indies will be Lyon’s 138th Test, and the offspinner still wants to continue playing Test cricket, driven by the goal of elusive series wins in England and India.

Lyon is on 556 wickets, seven scalps behind Glenn McGrath’s tally of 563 wickets on the list of Australia’s all-time wicket takers.

The second Test between Australia and the West Indies begins in Grenada on Friday morning (AEST).

Steve Smith is expected to be available for selection following a compound finger dislocation sustained in the World Test Championship Final.

Originally published as Nathan Lyon passes prestigious Test cricket honour to teammate after 12 years