Lyon: Nobody can take this away from me

Cricket365
December 28, 2013

Spin bowler Nathan Lyon emerged the proud recipient of a momentous milestone, as Australia seized command on the third day of the fourth Ashes fixture on Saturday.

Lyon became the 35th Australian to reach 100 Test match wickets, en route to figures of five for 50 in 17 overs, as England collapsed to a mere 179 all out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"I have been working hard with bowling coach John Davison and I am proud of this achievement. Nobody can take it way from me, and I have been lucky enough to get there," said Lyon.

"The other guys have put in big performances too. There is no way I would have reached this if the other guys didn't help. I could not have done it without them, and we are happy."

The English lost the last five wickets for a mere six runs, with Lyon and fast bowler Mitchell Johnson complementing each other superbly. The capitulation ultimately left the Aussies an arguably modest 231-run target, 30 of which openers Chris Rogers and David Warner removed before the close of play.

"We spoke about it as a bowling unit, coming out and performing as a unit, and we've done that. The pitch was a bit slow, but there is no reason we can't chase these runs down," concluded Lyon.

"It was a great effort, it was a great day of Test match cricket. But we've got a lot of hard work to do, we know the trend of the game – with the new ball it's been easier to score and then it's been pretty hard to score after about 30 overs."