Ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka, veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon stated his belief that Australia still have a long way to go to achieve greatness in red-ball cricket.
The first Test between both nations saw Australia declaring on 654/6, with Usman Khawaja slamming 232. In response, Sri Lanka were all-out for 165 & 247 and Australia won by an innings and 242 runs. Interestingly, it was the biggest Test defeat for Sri Lanka in the longest format.
Matthew Kuhnemann (9 wickets) and Lyon (7 wickets) took the bulk of the hosts’ wickets to begin the series with a dominating victory for Australia.
The result comes in the aftermath of Australia qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final, which was made possible by their 3-1 series victory against India.
Despite impressive performances, Nathan Lyon thinks Australia needs to maintain dominance for “long periods” to be called as a great team.
“We want to become a great Australian team. We’re on that journey; we’re not there yet. That’s our end goal,” Lyon was quoted as saying by ICC ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.
“Part of that journey is making sure that when we close the window, we nail it shut. It’s all about being ruthless and doing our best thing for long periods of time,” he added.
What are a few key milestones Nathan Lyon wants Australia to achieve?
As per Nathan Lyon, winning an away Test series in India and England still is a dream for him. Notably, Australia haven’t won a Test series in India since 2004, while losing in their last three tours, which witnessed the presence of Lyon in the squad.
Meanwhile, Australia’s last Ashes Test victory in England came in 2001. On the last two occasions, both teams played out a competitive 2-2 draw.
Nathan Lyon said:
“Well, there are a few things; we haven’t won in India. We’ve retained the last two Ashes (via drawn series), away. So, there’s a few things that, for me, this is only me and my thoughts as well. But we’ve got some great players within that change room. There’s no point hiding behind that; you look at Smithy (Steve Smith) bringing up 10,000 (runs).
“You’ve got Starcy (Mitchell Starc) in my eyes, who’s got around the corner from Test matches. So, there are great players, but I feel like we are on the journey to become a great Australian team. And I think that’s an incredible journey to be a part of it,” he added.
Lyon is the leading wicket-taker in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy history with 125 wickets in 31 games, with nine five-wicket hauls. On the other hand, he has scalped 110 wickets in 30 games in the Ashes.
