Nathan Lyon has expressed his fury after being dropped by Australia for the first time in 13 years of home Tests, as the Ashes battle resumed in Brisbane on Thursday. The spinner, Australia's third-highest Test wicket-taker, described his mood as 'absolutely filthy' after being omitted in favour of an all-pace attack for the second Test at the Gabba.
'I'm letting things settle down in my own head and trying to make sure that I'm doing whatever I can to make sure the guys representing Australia do the right thing and get the right result for us,' Lyon told Channel 7. 'I'm not the first player to miss a Test match and I won't be the last. But I'm obviously pretty gutted because I know the role that I can play, and especially at a venue like this.'
Australia's chair of selectors, George Bailey, attempted to assuage Lyon's fury by guaranteeing him a place in the XI for the third Test in Adelaide, describing the move as a 'one-Test decision'. 'Nath will disagree with the decision, and that's perfectly OK. I have no qualms about players feeling like they can impact the game and the fact of the matter is he could have. Very much it's a one-Test decision, Nath will play in Adelaide,' Bailey said.
In Lyon's absence, England captain Joe Root plundered the home side's all-seam attack for an unbeaten 135 on the opening day, his 40th Test century and his first on Australian soil. Root came to the crease in the third over with England reeling at five for two and was unbeaten at stumps with England 325 for nine. Teammate Zak Crawley, who scored 76 and combined with Root in a third-wicket partnership of 117, hailed the performance as 'one of his best'.
'He played fantastically well, assessed the conditions, sucked up some pressure and got the result,' Australia's Mitchell Starc said. 'We've had a lot of good battles – he's won a few of them and I won a few and today we both got some runs and wickets so we'll call it even.' After England lost three wickets for 13 runs and five for 54, Root and Jofra Archer added a quickfire, 44-ball 61 in an unbroken last-wicket stand to leave the tourists happy with their position at stumps.
