London: Australia were dealt with a major injury scare on Thursday when premier off-spinner Nathan Lyon limped off the field while fielding during day two of the second Ashes Test against England at Lord’s.
Lyon, who was playing in his 100th consecutive Test, was running in to take a catch of Ben Duckett off the bowling of Cameron Green in the leg-side after tea, when he pulled up sharply while running towards the ball.
The injury looked so serious that Lyon had to go off the field by taking the support of a member of the Australian team medical staff and shook off in pain while clutching the calf region of his right leg.
A statement from Cricket Australia confirmed Lyon has suffered a right calf injury and would be further assessed after the close of day’s two play.
“A further update, if available, will be shared in the morning,” it further said.
The 35-year old had completed 13 overs of his off-spin bowling, taking the wicket of Zak Crawley while maintaining an economy rate of 2.69. 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. Other players in the list are Alastair Cook (159), Allan Border (153), Mark Waugh (107), Sunil Gavaskar (106) and Brendon McCullum (101).
Coincidentally, Lyon has achieved this rare landmark at Lord’s, the same venue where he was dropped in the format for the last time. This was almost a decade ago during Australia’s tour of England for the 2013 Ashes series.
(IANS)
