Veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon recently made a bold claim ahead of the upcoming Ashes series in England. Lyon believes that the Aussies are gonna whitewash England in their own backyard by winning the Test series by 5-0.
Australia handed over a 4-0 defeat to England in the 2021-22 Ashes and now eyeing to retain the urn with a successive series win against their arch-rivals when they travel to England in June 2023. However, it is to be noted that Australia haven’t been able to win a Test series in England since 2001, still, Lyon believes that Australia are gonna whitewash the hosts this time.
'I think it’s been an incredible journey' - Lyon
"I do believe we can win 5-0, for sure. 100 percent. There you go, there’s your headline. I’ve never gone into any game thinking that we’re never going to compete well and win the game. I know it’s a headline for you guys, but in my opinion and my view, every game I play for Australia, I’m going out there to win it,” Lyon was quoted as saying by The Age
“I’m confident heading over there. I think our squad should be really proud of the work that we’ve done over the last 24 months. I think it’s been an incredible journey and something that we should be really proud of," he further added.
Before the Test series, Australia will take on India for the Test Championship Final that will be held at the Oval from June 7 to June 11. The World number one and Number two Test teams will lock horns to clinch the Test mace in the second edition of the Test Championship. After that, Australia and England will face each other in the Ashes starting from June 16th.
Australian squad for the Test Championship final and the first two Tests:
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
England squad for the Ashes:
Ben Stokes (captain), Ollie Pope (vice-captain), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Dan Lawrence Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Mark Wood, Matty Potts, Jack Leach.