Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon said that Australia has the confidence that they can whitewash England 5-0 in the upcoming Ashes 2021–22 series, starting on December 8 in Brisbane.
He further said that England will have doubts about their own chances in their minds given their poor record in Australia, as the tourists have lost 9 of their last 10 Tests and haven't won in Brisbane — where the opening Ashes Test will be played on December 8 — since 1986.
Lyon said, “I think England will have some doubts because a lot of their senior players have been out here on tours before and they haven't won a Test out here. If you look at the likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes, and these guys, I think they're going to be confident.”
He added, “But I think there'll be some doubt in their minds (about) the Australian side and the way the Australian team goes about their business here in Australia. So I'm not sure if it's fear — because no doubt they'll have their belief within their squad. But I know here in the Australian cricket team, we have the belief that we can come out here and win the Ashes, and win it 5-0.”
While Australia hasn’t played a Test since their home series against India since early this year, England has played more Test cricket with series against India, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka, but Lyon doesn’t think it will give the tourists any advantage in the upcoming Ashes series.
The spinner further added, “I think everyone's played enough cricket, we know what we need to do and we're already a very tight team. Off the back of the boys winning the (T20) World Cup (last month), there's such positive energy around the group.”
Lyon also wants to complete his 400 Test victims with the wicket of England skipper Joe Root.
He signed off by saying, “I've loved bowling against Rooty. We've played a lot of Test cricket against each other, so someone like Joe Root obviously would be quite special. But, to be honest with you, I don't really care. I just want it to come and we can move on.”
(With AFP Inputs)
