‘We shouldn’t panic anyway, we panicked in India and we saw what happened’ – Nathan Lyon opens up about ‘Ashes’ challenge

Ahead of the Ashes 2023, spin wizard Nathan Lyon is fairly confident of Australia’s chances but reminded that the team cannot afford to panic in the middle.

Citing the example of the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Lyon explained how the visiting team failed to make an impact in the first two Tests and eventually added that the team has learned from that experience and against England, they will play their brand of cricket to tackle the Ben Stokes-led side.

The 35-year-old also clarified that he isn’t much bothered about the noise regarding the size of the ground and the nature of the pitch England will be making as he believes that Australia should focus on themselves and not on things like that. The cricketer also assured that they will plan well and will be in good shape to deal with any situation in the middle.

“You look at the way they played against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan, they have been able to force the opposition into panicking. We just have to worry about us. Control what we can control and worry about what is in our backyard and not be worried about what they’re doing. If we make sure we have really good plans and stick to them, everything will go okay,” Lyon said while talking to Australian Associated Press.

“We shouldn’t panic anyway, we panicked in India and we saw what happened. If we can learn from that experience and play our way and our brand it will be okay. We have to worry about us. We will be really well planned … I think we will be in really good shape. We’re not buying into the fact they have to do it against Australian bowlers. We just keep nailing our process and worrying about us,” he added.

Notably, the Ashes will begin on June 16 at Edgbaston. In the last edition of the Ashes, England lost the series 4-0 and thus, will be desperate to win back the urn this time around.