"It didn't look good," says Steve Smith on Nathan Lyon's injury
Jun 30, 2023
London [UK], June 30 : Australia's batter Steve Smith updating about the injury of Nathan Lyon, said that his injury "did not look good".
Lyon sustained an injury in the 37th over on day two of the second Ashes Test at Lord's of the England innings when Lyon was seen limping out with the physio shortly after completing a spell. Chasing a ball to the fence, Lyon seemed in immediate discomfort and was quickly taken off the field.
"It doesn't look ideal for the rest of the game. I'm not sure how he actually is, but if he is no good, it is obviously a big loss for us. Fingers crossed he is okay but it didn't look good obviously," Smith said in a media interaction.
Smith also hinted that if Lyon is ruled out of the remaining test then Todd Murphy can be considered as the replacement for the next week's third Test at Headingley.
"Todd has been bowling beautifully in nets and bowled really well in India when he got his opportunity. I would be confident if he came in that he would do a terrific job for us," Smith said.
The Australian team had updated on Thursday that Lyon suffered an injury to his right calf while fielding during the final session. Lyon would be assessed after play on day two.
The off-spinner had incidentally become just the sixth player, and the first-ever bowler, to play 100 consecutive Tests.
Lyon had a massive influence in Australia's win in the first Test, taking eight wickets and is a crucial cog in the bowling attack. Should this injury be bigger, it would be a huge blow for the visitors, whose backup spin option is the four-Test-old Todd Murphy.
Coming to the match, England's first innings is in progress. They ended the day two at 278/4, with Harry Brook (45*) and skipper Ben Stokes (17*) unbeaten. Ben Duckett (94), Zak Crawley (48) provided important contributions with the bat.
In their first innings, Australia was bundled out for 416 runs. Smith (110), Travis Head (77 in 73 balls) and David Warner (66 in 88 balls) played standout innings for Australia.
Josh Tongue (3/98) and Ollie Robinson (3/100) took three-fers. Joe Root took two wickets while the veteran pace duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad managed a wicket each.
