In the past year alone, seven top-or-middle-order English batters have gone at a strike-rate of over 60, with the team having won 10 of 12 games. Throughout that period, the question has remained on how they will be able to do it against the No.1-ranked Australian attack during the Ashes.
Steve Smith raised that exact question as early back as last July, with Australia’s bowlers renowned for building pressure and being the most economical in the world. And as far as Lyon is concerned, the answer is simple: Australia can win out if they buck the trend of England’s recent rivals and don’t panic.
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“You look at the way they played against New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan, they have been able to force the opposition into panicking,” Lyon told AAP. “We just have to worry about us. Control what we can control and worry about what is in our backyard and not be worried about what they’re doing. If we make sure we have really good plans and stick to them, everything will go okay.”
Particularly in question there was whether Australia had over-thought their cricket, with a number of batsmen dismissed in a flurry of sweeps and reverse-sweeps. There is already a thought that England are trying to get into Australia’s head and create mental pressure in the build up to this series.
Ben Stokes has spoken about a desire for flatter wickets, there have been reports of wanting smaller boundaries and Stuart Broad has spoken about wanting Australia’s batsmen attempting to copy England’s approach. Lyon, however, is urging calm.
“We shouldn’t panic anyway,” he said. “We panicked in India and we saw what happened. If we can learn from that experience and play our way and our brand it will be okay.”
With that in mind, Lyon said he would not change the way he bowled his offspinners to combat England’s attacking mindset.
“I’m not buying into any of that. It’s just us,” Lyon said. “We have to worry about us. We will be really well planned. And with Pat [Cummins] and Smithy leading us, I think we will be in really good shape.
“I have been bowling with Mitch [Starc] and Pat over the past couple of weeks, our prep is going really well. We’re not buying into the fact they have to do it against Australian bowlers. We just keep nailing our process and worrying about us.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo