England all-out attacked Nathan Lyon in first Ashes Test but the wickets kept coming

In the first Test at Edgbaston, both those predictions came true, as England attacked Lyon more than ever before and lost their wickets to him at rate faster than ever before. It was carnage.

Lyon, to his credit, hasn’t baulked at England’s method of all-out attack potentially being interpreted as a sign of disrespect or shied away from acknowledging that the challenge England pose is different to what he’s faced before.

Many pros would be too proud to budge from their “processes”.

Not Lyon.

“I actually had an interesting net session two days before the game,” Lyon said during the first Test. “I had Matt Renshaw and Josh Inglis and said come and slog me. Try and hit me for six every ball and I reckon I bowled for about an hour.”

There aren’t many new challenges left for Lyon to face in Test cricket. Lord’s will be his 100th consecutive Test appearance, making him the first ever specialist bowler to achieve the feat and, furthermore, given the way England have gone about playing him, he may well pick up the five wickets he needs to pass 500 wickets.

“It’ll be extremely special,” Lyon said of ticking off 100. “I hate talking about myself but that‘s one record I’m extremely proud of.”

England attacked 44% of the balls they faced from Lyon at Edgbaston. During the 2021/22 series, when Lyon was at his England-paralysis-inducing best, Joe Root’s team defended 44% and attacked just one in five of his deliveries.

The leave has all but disappeared, too. Since 2015, England have left roughly 7% of balls that Lyon bowled to them, that figure was down to just 2.2% during the first match.

“I didn’t say I’d try and hit him for six,” was Brook’s caveat to England’s method of all out attack. “I’d like to think I’m a player who can find gaps, and hit different gaps playing all around the wicket.”

While Brook was true to his word, looking to rotate a third of the deliveries he faced, his teammates were more crystal clear in their approach of sending the ball to the fence as often as possible.

Attempts to rotate the strike were down, from 29% in 2021/22 to 22% at Edgbaston. The result was that England scored a 4.32 runs-per-over throughout the match, compared to a career economy rate against England of 2.78.

It was the sixth most expensive match economy rate of Lyon’s career.

The sweep shot, in all its forms and glory, was a particular go for Brendon and his boys. Across the entirety of the 2021/22 series, England attempted 58 sweeps. At Edgbaston, it was 53.

The reverse sweep, in particular, got a remarkable outing. Going into the Birmingham Test, Lyon had played 28 Ashes matches, with England getting the reverse broom out 30 times across those contests, so roughly one per match. Edgbaston alone saw England attempt the reverse 26 times.

Lyon’s main change when faced with England was a change of angle.

Across the five days, Lyon almost exclusively bowled around the wicket, bowling 282 deliveries from the umpire’s right-hand-side compared to just 36 from over; a tactic he stuck to when bowling against England’s right-handers. That being said, Lyon’s propensity to come around the wicket isn’t unheard of, especially against England. Across Lyon’s career against the old enemy, he bowls roughly 50% of his deliveries to right-handers from either side of the wicket, compared to the rest of his career where he has bowled three-times as many deliveries to right-handers from over-the-wicket vs round (14,983 vs. 5,435).

For all of England’s bluster and boundary attempts, Lyon can comfortably lay claim to having had a successful outing in the face of England’s all-out attack. Eight wickets across the match, with four in each innings and the scalps of Brook and Jonny Bairstow to his name in both innings.

His career strike-rate against England is 63.3, whereas a wicket arrived every 40 balls in Birmingham – a stat that stands in stark contrast when placed against Lyon’s dot ball percentage which stood at a lowly 56% compared to the high 70s it normally exists in during a series.

“For me,” concluded Lyon, “it’s about bowling my best ball and trying to get them to defend as much I can, understanding that they don’t want to defend. And that’s totally okay, it’s a different challenge and it’s exciting to be honest. They‘re playing a positive brand of cricket and I’m bloody proud to be a part of it, to be honest. It’s bloody enjoyable.”