Didn’t Really See Any Bazball In My Two Tests Against England, Says Australia Spinner Nathan Lyon

Didn’t really see any Bazball in my two Tests against England, says Australia spinner Nathan Lyon (Image Source: IANS)

Nathan Lyon: Australia’s veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon said he did not see any kind of 'Bazball' being played by England in the two Ashes Tests he played against them earlier this year, before missing next three matches due to a calf injury.

The ‘Bazball’ term came into being on the basis of ‘Baz’ nickname of England’s Test coach Brendon McCullum. “I’m 2-0 against Bazball so I am happy. It’s a load of shit, if you ask me. It’s a brand of cricket that the English want to keep going with. Now it’s in the dictionary which is pretty extraordinary,” said Lyon on Channel 7's Front Bar show.

The series, which ended in a 2-2 draw, was hugely overshadowed by Jonny Bairstow being stumped by Alex Carey during the second Test at Lord's, which sparked a big debate over the 'spirit of cricket' notion.

Lyon, who has taken 496 Test wickets for Australia, felt Bairstow was to be blamed for the stumping, as he wandered out of his crease when Carey fired in the throw. "It's quite simple. Stay in your crease and you won't get out."

"But I was in the change rooms on my crutches watching and I think I celebrated more than anyone. It was pretty amazing. But I've never seen a crowd react like that after anything."

That dismissal sparked unsavoury scenes in the Long Room at Lord’s, with many members of the MCC facing various bans for abusing the visiting Australian cricketers when they were on their way back to the dressing room. The reaction of people in England to the stumping was amusing for Australian team, according to Lyon.

"We all found it pretty funny. You look in the Long Room and we all said we were more a chance of getting sued than punched. So we were pretty amazed by it. But it was funny. When the guys came back out after lunch, it was like the members got spoken to from the head master and it was all primary school kids again," he concluded.