Didn’t really see any baseball in my two Test matches against England: Nathan Lyon

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New Delhi . Australia’s veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon said he did not see any ‘baseball’ being played by England in the two Ashes Test matches played against England earlier this year, before he was ruled out with a calf injury. Due to this he could not play in the next three matches.

The term ‘Baseball’ came into existence based on the nickname ‘Baz’ of England Test coach Brendon McCullum. “I’m 2-0 against baseball so I’m happy,” Lyon told Channel 7’s Front Bar show. That’s a lot of nonsense if you ask me. This is a brand of cricket that the British want to continue. “It is now in the dictionary which is extraordinary.”

The series, which ended in a 2–2 draw, was significantly overshadowed by Alex Carey’s stumping of Jonny Bairstow during the second Test at Lord’s, sparking a major debate over the notion of the ‘spirit of cricket’.

Lyon, who has taken 496 Test wickets for Australia, feels Bairstow should be blamed for the stumping as he went out of his crease on Carey’s throw. “It’s quite simple. Stay in your crease and you won’t be out.”

“But I was in the changing room on my crutches and I think I celebrated more than anyone. It was amazing. But I’ve never seen a crowd react like that after anything.”

That dismissal led to unpleasant scenes in the Long Room at Lord’s, with several MCC members facing various sanctions for abusing the visiting Australian cricketers as they were walking back to the dressing room. According to Lyon, the reaction of people in England to the stumping was amusing for the Australian team.

He concluded, “We all found it very strange. You look in the Long Room and we all said we were more likely to be sued than punched. So we were quite surprised by that. But it was fun. When people came back after lunch, it was as if the members were being talked to by the head master and it was all primary school children.”

–IANS

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