Australia’s veteran spinner Nathan Lyon has been ruled from the rest of the Ashes series, Cricket Australia confirmed on Monday. But the question is who will replace Lyon in the reaming matches of Ashes against England and Todd Murphy is the frontrunner to replace him. As per reports by the Indian Express, Murphy is set to make his debut in the ongoing Ashes series.
In the recently passed Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Todd made an impressive debut as he concluded as Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker by scalping 14 wickets at an average of 25.21 against India, removing Virat Kohli four times.
“Todd is pretty well placed. We like to have a spinner in our attack, it’s a different balance, and as you saw (on Sunday) at certain times, we had to do it differently without Nathan Lyon down the other end which we’ve been so used to,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald was quoted on speaking to cricket.com.au.
“At times it looked a bit chaotic, so we do like to have that spin option in the attack.”
Earlier on Day 2 of the second Ashes Test, Lyon sustained a calf tear and was spotted on the crutches the very next day. However, the 35-year-old stepped out to bat in Australia’s second innings. He played 13 balls and made four runs, putting up a crucial stand of 15 runs for the last wicket with Mitchell Starc.
Previously, Australia outplayed England in Ashes 2023 2nd Test at Lord's by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match ENG vs AUS Ashes 2023 Test series. England skipper Ben Stokes however put up a strong fightback with his knock of 155 runs off 214 balls but it went in vain. The Kangaroos have now made a strong statement with back-to-back wins against the English side.