"It feels a little sick"- Nathan Lyon takes a dig at teammate James Anderson
Australian offspinner Nathan Lyon has taken a dig at England's veteran fast bowler James Anderson. Interestingly, both Lyon and Anderson are playing for Lancashire in the ongoing County Championship Division One match against Nottinghamshire, played at Trafalgar Road Ground, Southport.
Nathan Lyon has signed for seven matches for Lancashire in the 2024 County Championship season. The ongoing match against Nottinghamshire is his last game for the Club this season.
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"It feels a little bit sick..." - Nathan Lyon about James Anderson
When asked about playing with the great James Anderson, Nathan Lyon took a slight dig at the veteran fast bowler but also called him the greatest fast bowler to play the game.
"It feels a little bit sick me saying 'come on Jimmy' and him saying 'nice Garry'. But that's the beauty of county cricket I guess, to come over here and play with arguably the greatest fast bowler to play the game has been pretty special," Lyon said at the end of Day 3.
"When I first signed for Lancashire, that was one of the big drawcards to hopefully bowl in a partnership with Jimmy (James Anderson). We've only done three overs so far but hopefully the weather holds off and we can have a decent crack tomorrow," the legendary off-spinner added.
Lyon also expressed surprise at James Anderson's retirement but said it was great fun bowling in tandem with the legend.
"It was pretty cool being at mid-off and having him tell me what he was doing, it was good fun. I've said this before, I'm very surprised that England have tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'You've got one more Test and that's it'," Lyon exclaimed.
"That was amazing to watch and amazing to be a part of" - Nathan Lyon on playing with James Anderson
The Australian offspinner also lauded Anderson for his superb bowling figures that put Lancashire ahead in the game. The 41-year-old quick looked at his best and dismantled Nottinghamshire's batting order with 7-35 in 16 overs.
"That was one of our best days of the summer. It was pretty amazing to come here to Southport and have Jimmy bowling as well. Doing what he did this morning was pretty amazing to witness," Lyon stated.
"I've obviously seen it (when I've been) on the other side when I'm not standing there saying 'come on Jimmy' so that was amazing to watch and amazing to be a part of," he added.
While Anderson had a big role to play in seamer-friendly conditions at Southport, Nathan Lyon didn't have much to do and finished with 0-24 in 6 overs in the first innings.
However, Lancashire decided to enforce the follow-on after restricting Nottinghamshire to just 126 runs in the first innings. Nathan Lyon came into his own in the second innings and had picked up 2-23 in 16 overs by the end of day's play. Nottinghamshire were 84-2 at Stumps on Day 3 and were still trailing by 143 runs.
James Anderson will play the last Test of his international career against West Indies from July 10-14 at Lord's. This will be the 188th Test match of his illustrious career.
