Australia’s Nathan Lyon had been reminded of his Headingley nightmare by the vociferous English crowd in fourth Ashes 2019 Test on every occasion he came to bowl in Manchester but that taunts didn’t bother the star off-spinner, saying it was just "white noise" after the first couple of overs.
Lyon missed an easy run-out chance to dismiss No. 11 batsman Jack Leach which helped England secure a famous one-wicket win in the third Test to level Ashes series at 1-1 against Australia.
After Australia retained the Ashes Urn with a 185-run win over England in the fourth Test on Sunday, 8th September, Lyon has insisted that the Manchester crowd was just "white noise" for him.
Lyon told reporters after Manchester Test, “To be honest with you, you hear it for the first over or two then it just becomes white noise. When you're a professional sportsman, your job is to come out and bowl well, and compete against whoever you're playing. I didn't really feel it or hear it at the back end (of the match), so it doesn't worry me.”
He continued, “We're sitting up there and we're going to have a couple of beers tonight and celebrate because the urn is coming home. I'm not sure what the 9,000 people in that stand are doing tonight.”
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old, who bowled in Manchester despite suffering an injury during England's first innings, had laid on the ground and captain Tim Paine came to him to pick him up off the turf after England won the third Test and Lyon said he was devastated.
He explained, “I wear my heart on my sleeve, and playing cricket for Australia means everything for me. It's not about personal success, but I've had some family issues over the past – my uncle's quite sick – so you realize quite quickly it's just a game. It does impact a lot of people, but mistakes happen.”
Lyon signed off by saying, “I didn't mean to drop the run-out or anything like that, but I had him plumb (lbw) next ball. That's just the game of cricket, you've got to pick yourself up and it's just the way you bounce back.”
(With DNA Inputs)
