Ashes 2023: Injured Nathan Lyon comes out to bat, receives a standing ovation from Lord’s crowd

London: Australia’s premier off-spinner Nathan Lyon got a standing ovation from the Lord’s crowd as he came out to bat with a seriously injured calf in his team’s second innings in the ongoing second Ashes Test on Saturday.

In their second innings, Australia were well-placed at 187/2, before falling prey to England’s short-ball ploy and slipping to 264/9 in the final session of day four’s play.

Very few people expected Lyon to walk out to bat after leaving the field on Thursday, with Cricket Australia confirming that the premier off-spinner has suffered a significant right calf strain which could rule him out for the rest of the Ashes, and him arriving at the ground in crutches.

But after Josh Hazlewood fell, broadcast visuals showed Lyon struggling to come down the pavilion steps before limping out to bat. Lyon’s commitment to his team was given a standing ovation by fans from both England and Australia sitting at Lord’s.

“All standing to applaud the bravery, the commitment, the dedication to his team’s cause,” said Eoin Morgan on-air.

Though Lyon hit a lovely pull shot, he was totally incapable of running due to his calf injury. But a few moments later, Lyon hobbled his way through to complete a run.

“Good effort this from Lyon. He will look up and see his captain encouraging him. Lyon can’t move!” said former England captain Michael Atherton on-air.

After taking a boundary via a pull, Lyon’s risky but brave cameo came to an end by top-edging a Stuart Broad bouncer high in the air to captain Ben Stokes. Crucially, for Australia, Lyon and Mitchell Starc added extra 15 runs in the last wicket stand to set England an unlikely target of 371 to win.

Lyon was then given another standing ovation from everyone in the stands, on the pitch, and in the pavilion as he went off the field after facing 13 balls.

The ongoing Lord’s Test saw Lyon become the first specialist bowler to bring up a century of consecutive appearances in the longest format of the game. Lyon, who made his Test debut in July 2011, has also become only the sixth player in the history of cricket to feature in 100 consecutive Tests.

–IANS