Australia have confirmed that Nathan Lyon will miss the rest of the Ashes series due to a calf injury.
On day two of the second Test on Thursday, Lyon pulled up when attempting to react sharply to a possible catch opportunity in the out-field, and it led to his immediate withdrawal from the pitch.
Although Lyon was unable to bowl for the remainder of the contest at Lord's, he valiantly made his way out to bat on day four, hobbling his way through a 15-run final-wicket partnership with Pat Cummins.
However, it had already been suggested that the 35-year-old's show of defiance, one which will be go down in Ashes folklore, would be his final act of the series.
That has now been publicly confirmed, with Lyon being replaced in the squad by Todd Murphy who has just four Test appearances to his name.
Australia will be without Nathan Lyon in their XI for the first time in 101 Tests, after the offspinner was ruled out of the rest of the 2023 #Ashes series with a calf injury pic.twitter.com/385uG2r9u8
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 3, 2023
According to ESPNcricinfo, Lyon met with Australia's medical staff over the weekend to confirm that he would be playing no further part in the series, which still has three matches to run.
Although Australia could go with an all-seam attack at Headingley, recalling Scott Boland for Lyon, it appears likely that Murphy will get the nod.
Murphy, who is just 22 years of age, has 14 wickets from four Tests, with each of them coming during Australia's away Test series with India earlier this year.
On his debut, Murphy took figures of 7-124 in Nagpur, but he would record just seven wickets in the five innings that followed during the remainder of the series.
Australia head into the third Test in Yorkshire, which starts on Thursday, with a 2-0 lead after prevailing in a controversial encounter at Lord's which concluded on Sunday by 43 runs.
Darren Plant
