Brisbane: It fell to the slowest of Australia’s bowlers to warn England what the quickest will do to them, with a demonic chuckle rising from Nathan Lyon as he claimed Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were “100 per cent” as dangerous as Mitchell Johnson four years ago and that the hosts would seek to “end” the Test careers of some of Joe Root’s men.
Two days before the resumption of hostilities, Lyon delivered an extraordinarily chilling message, which Australia will now have to live up to at the Gabba and beyond. The home side’s senior spinner claimed Matt Prior wanted to leave the 2013-14 tour because he was “scared” and recalled: “Watching Mitchell Johnson going around scaring all the Poms was unbelievable. I was at leg slip, and I had to push a couple of [English] guys back [towards] the stumps. So, it was good fun.”
On the last Ashes tour, Jonathan Trott, Prior, Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen were all hastened to the end of their Test careers, for a variety of reasons. Same again this time? “Hope so,” Lyon said. “I didn’t end them. I think Mitchell Johnson ended them. If you ask Mitch, it was quite satisfying if you look at his past and the pressures the English put him under, with the Barmy Army, and everything like that.”
Lyon added: “I know Joe Root got dropped last time he was here, so it would be good to get him dropped again, wouldn’t it? If we can start with opening up that crack, it’s pretty crucial. There’s a lot of scars for the English side, especially coming out here, especially when we’ve got two guys who bowl over 150 kmph — not just one.”
Historical banter is to be expected in the days leading up to a first Ashes Test, which starts here on Thursday morning (UAE time), but Lyon was equally forthright about the here and now. He tipped Starc to pick up where Johnson left off: “Yep, 100 per cent. On my birthday [he was 30 yesterday], I’m not getting into the nets to face them, because they are bowling way too quick for my liking. I saw [Steve] Smith [Australia’s captain] land on his backside the other day. Johnno didn’t do that.
“There’s Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins but I think the best bowler in the world is Josh Hazlewood. He can swing the new ball in and out, he can seam it, he can bowl fast, he can bowl a nice bouncer and he can reverse an old ball; the consistency and pace he bowls at, and the way he controls the game, is incredible.”
The way Lyon spoke, it was tempting to think he might miss the Brisbane Test in favour of an extra seamer. If he plays, he can expect some blowback from England for his provocations, though he calls Root “a good mate”. He exulted in Australia’s crushing of England last time out. “Unbelievable feeling,” he said. “Knowing that they’re broken, leading into Perth. We knew they were broken. We knew Matt Prior wanted to fly home before the game started, and he was one of the senior players.” Why did Prior want to go home? “He was scared,” Lyon replied. “Four years ago. I think he’s all right now.”
It was hard to know whether Lyon was acting on instructions to poke the hive or speaking from personal conviction. Either way, he earned high marks for theatricality, as befits a man who recently stopped a Sheffield Shield match for 30 minutes by burning a piece of toast and triggering the fire alarms. He says: “Never burnt a piece of toast in your life? I got stuck talking cricket to someone and one of the fellas popped it up and put it back down. So, technically, it’s not my fault — but I’ll take the blame.”
On England, he did pull back once or twice from his own inferno: “You never want to see anyone get hurt. You want to play against the best cricketers in the world and come out on top.
“It’s about competing hard and playing well and enjoying the fight. They’ve got some superstars in the side. We have to respect them. We do respect them.”
Cummins, however, helped Lyon build Starc into the new nemesis. “Seeing him [Starc] bowl in the nets the last couple of weeks is pretty frightening,” said Cummins, 24, who has, himself, reached 157-158 kmph, not far short of 100mph. “Hopefully we will get some fast, bouncy wickets and that’s quite a big difference from the swinging English conditions. As a rule, a lot of the English hang back and I’m sure they know what’s coming.”
“Plan A is getting them to snick off or lbw but then [intimidation] is an option. They’ve got a few guys who are pretty inexperienced at Test level and there are quite a few unknowns going into this game. We’ve played here a fair bit and we’re lucky we’re tall and can get a fair bit of bounce. Being aggressive will definitely be one of our weapons.”
- The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2017
