Nathan Lyon is the arch-diplomat when speaking to i, praising county cricket, Bazball and England’s Test captain Ben Stokes. Yet the Aussie spinner can’t resist when asked about the next Ashes Down Under in 2025-26. “I’m hoping it’ll be 5-0 to Australia.”
Lyon is currently playing for Lancashire having originally signed for the whole summer before his deal was cut to just seven matches by Cricket Australia over concerns about his workload.
The 36-year-old is effusive in his praise of the club, the strength of the county game and English cricket in general.
It’s a change in tone from his usual pronouncements in and around Ashes series, with Lyon branding Bazball, England’s attacking style under Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, “a load of shit” last November. Speaking on Aussie TV show The Front Bar, he added of last summer’s Ashes that saw the hosts robbed of a 3-2 win from 2-0 down by the Manchester rain: “It’s unfortunate England morally won.”
Lyon, who had previously spoken about “ending careers” before the 2013-14 Ashes in Australia, is no stranger to controversial statements that rile the English.
However, he is genuinely happy to be at Lancashire, sharing a dressing-room with, among others, James Anderson, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker.
“I had lunch with him the first day I was here,” says Lyon. “It was enjoyable to sit down and have a nice conversation with him rather than having a conversation after a series. It’s refreshing to see Jimmy.”
Anderson, who turns 42 in July, is currently being rested by England following the five-match series in India that ended last month and ahead of the start of the Test summer in July. But it is likely he will play alongside Lyon at some stage before he departs.
So what did the pair talk about over lunch? The 1,230 Test wickets they’ve taken between them?
“No, definitely more about golf, what he’s been up to and how India was,” says Lyon. “It’s pretty remarkable to sit down and have a nice lunch with him. It was a good conversation about life in general.”
So heated is the rhetoric around Ashes series, there is a perception that players from each side don’t get on. It wasn’t helped by the storm confected by the Australians about England snubbing post-series drinks at The Oval last summer. “England didn’t really respond to [captain] Pat’s [Cummins] text messages which is pretty disappointing,” Lyon had told the Front Bar last November.
However, the off-spinner, who played grade cricket with Joe Root at Prospect Pirates in the winter of 2010-11, points out there is a healthy mutual respect between the players.
“For me I feel like I’m really good mates with Joe,” he says.
“We played grade cricket together before we started playing international cricket back out in Adelaide so I’ve known Joe a lot longer than half the Australian team. We play that much cricket, there’s that much mutual respect in international cricket these days I’d like to think there’s a lot of friends around the world.”
The perception of needle between the teams wasn’t helped by the fallout from Jonny Bairstow’s controversial “stumping” by Alex Carey in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s last summer. It was the match that saw Lyon ruled out of the final three Tests after injuring a calf muscle. Asked if that was frustrating, he says: “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.”
Having previously spoken about being “in a dark place” following that injury, Australia’s failure to win a first Ashes series in England since 2001 after blowing a 2-0 lead still rankles.
“If I’m being honest, I see it as a big opportunity missed for Australian cricket,” he says. “I was pretty gutted. It was the first time I’ve been away from the Australian Test team in 13 years so that was pretty hard to be at home watching the series.”
Could that next series in Australia in just over 18 months’ time be as close as last summer? “I’m hoping it’ll be 5-0 to Australia to be honest with you,” he says. “That’s what I’m hoping for. The Ashes is always at the back of my mind. It’ll be a thrilling Test series against Bazball I’m sure.”
And after seeing England humbled 4-1 in India recently, does he think Bazball can work in Australia? “We’ll find out won’t we? We’ll find out. It’s an exciting brand of cricket, isn’t it? But we’re not going to get sucked into it. We’ll play our brand of cricket and we know how to win at home so that’s pretty exciting.”
Australia were not only rattled by Bazball last summer but the perception that their own method was dull in comparison. “Boring?” asks Lyon. “I’m 2-0 against Bazball so I’m pretty happy about it. You’re right, Ashes series seem to be more and more hyped up each series we come across so that’s all part of it now and that’s the exciting part of it. But seeing the talent here in county cricket it’s going to be one hell of a series.”
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Lyon also restated his desire to play in the next Ashes series in England in 2027 – and it’s a major reason why he is here this summer. “Yeah, 100 per cent,” he says. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say at the back of my mind the [next] Ashes over here is still well and truly on my radar. There’s no doubt about that.”
Yet there are no thoughts of retiring at the end of that summer, when Lyon will be 39.
“No,” he says. “I can take a lot of motivation off Jimmy the way he’s going about it, especially as I’m only a spin bowler and it’s not as taxing on the body as what he does. I’m thoroughly enjoying my cricket, so there’s definitely no end point in sight.”
At Lancashire, Lyon has been working alongside Tom Hartley, the spinner who made his Test debut for England in India. He says: “We’ve had some really good conversations, some really good training sessions so hopefully throughout my time here I can pass on a bit of knowledge I’ve been able to come up with the last 13 or so years. Saying that, he’s also been able to help me as well.”
Lyon is also set to come up against Stokes again next month when Lancashire play Durham in a County Championship match at Blackpool. “Always look forward to coming up against Stokesy, he’s a nice guy, an unbelievable cricketer, he’s going to go down as one of the greatest to have ever played the game in my eyes,” says Lyon.
Stokes is working his way back to bowling full tilt and becoming a genuine all-rounder again following knee surgery last November. It’s a prospect Lyon welcomes.
“In my opinion Stokesy is up there in the conversation with the greatest all-rounders to have played the game,” he says. “He’s played some unbelievable match-winning knocks against Australia so he’s again got the ability to be the class all-rounder the whole world knows he is.”
Whether Lyon is as complimentary ahead of the next Ashes series remains to be seen. But for now, he’s loving life as an adopted Lancastrian.
