Lyon ready for sandpaper taunts on England tour

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Australia spinner Nathan Lyon is expecting to “cop a fair bit” of taunts from the English crowd when the Aussies tour England next month to play limited-overs matches.

Lyon was named in a 15-man Australia squad that will be captained by Tim Paine to play five ODIs and a one-off T20 in June.

ALSO READ: Paine named Australia ODI captain for England tour

It will Australia’s first international games since the controversial tour to South Africa where they caught up in the ball-tampering scandal and the off-spinner is expecting to hear about it from the English crowd.

Lyon said: “I’ve never played in England where they (England’s supporters) haven’t given it to us.

“I’m expecting to cop a fair bit. It’s good fun, it’s banter, we’re going to cop it, so no point taking some tissues out with us.

“We’ve just got to stand out there and cop it and try and really make sure our performances are really making the big key movement forward. I really enjoy the challenge.”

Lyon also said the absence of world-class batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner, who have both been banned for one year, will leave a hole in the line-up but allows someone an opportunity step up to the plate.

“I know Steve will be hoping that whoever takes his spot in the Test side will hopefully go out and score a lot of runs and make it difficult for him to come back in,” said Lyon.

“We all know they’re world-class players but as we know there is a great opportunity for the younger players to really come out and stand up and really put their name forward.”

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