"They have been able to force the opposition into panicking" - Nathan Lyon dissects England's approach ahead of Ashes series
Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon has urged his team against panicking ahead of the upcoming Ashes series against England. The record-breaking off-spinner reminded his teammate of their team's fate on the recent tour of India when they panicked.
The tourists lost all the remaining nine wickets within a session on a fateful third day to lose the second Test in Delhi to go down by 0-2 in the four-game series. They were ahead by 62 when the day started, but could only manage 113 by the end of the innings and eventually lost by six wickets.
Speaking to AAP, Nathan Lyon reflected on England's aggressive approach by saying that they forced the opposition into panicking. The veteran feels Australia should instead concentrate on their preparation.
"We shouldn’t panic anyway. We panicked in India and we saw what happened. If we can learn from that experience and play our way and our brand it will be okay. You look at the way they played against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan, they have been able to force the opposition into panicking.
"We just have to worry about us. Control what we can control and worry about what is in our backyard and not be worried about what they’re doing. If we make sure we have really good plans and stick to them, everything will go okay."
England's aggressive approach has turned their fortunes around massively as they have registered 10 victories in the last 12 matches. Nevertheless, they haven't won any of their last three series against Australia.
"We will be really well planned" - Nathan Lyon
Lyon further revealed that their preparations will be on point and trusts Pat Cummins and Steve Smith to lead them well. The 35-year-old added:
"I’m not buying into any of that. It’s just us. We have to worry about us. We will be really well planned. And with Pat and Smithy leading us, I think we will be in really good shape. I have been bowling with Mitch [Starc] and Pat over the past couple of weeks, our prep is going really well. We’re not buying into the fact they have to do it against Australian bowlers. We just keep nailing our process and worrying about us."
While Australia hold the urn currently, they haven't won a series on English soil since 2001.