Ashes 2023: Steve Waugh reveals sending a text to Nathan Lyon for staying with Australia after calf injury

Manchester : Legendary Australian cricketer Steve Waugh revealed he attempted to persuade Nathan Lyon via a text message to stay with the team in England in a bid to play in the fifth Ashes Test after the veteran off-spinner sustained a right calf injury which ended his time in the series.

Lyon, playing in his 100th consecutive Test match at Lord’s, pulled up sharply after running in to take a catch of Ben Duckett off the bowling of Cameron Green in the leg-side after tea in the 37th over. Though he did face 13 balls with the bat, Lyon was diagnosed with a significant calf strain and eventually ruled out for the rest of the series.

“I actually sent Nathan Lyon a message after he did his calf. I said, ‘Mate, don’t give up on it, you’ve got 18 days, you might be able to get back for the last Test match’. But obviously being a bowler it’s harder than a batsman,” Waugh told SEN Radio on Friday.

In his playing career, Waugh famously shrugged off a calf problem to score 157 not out at The Oval back in 2001 as Australia won The Ashes 4-1 over England. Now retired, Waugh admitted the players of his era were given far more leeway from the medical team when it came to playing with injuries.

“I sort of bluffed my way through that last Test match and did it more on willpower and knowing that I didn’t have another Test match for about six weeks after. Which I needed because I got a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) on the way home on the plane so I had to get some injections for the next six weeks.”

“It was just one of those things. Back in our era, we had more opportunities to play through injury. The physio trusted you and knew what your pain tolerance was and what you could get through. In a lot of ways, players these days don’t get that chance.”

“You look at Cameron Green in the last Test match, they said he had a slight niggle. I think sometimes you’ve got to play through those. He’s probably lucky he’s got a game this Test match because he gave Mitch Marsh an opportunity and as a Test player you want to hold onto your spot as long as you can and play whenever you can. I think these days, playing with a slight injury doesn’t happen anymore,” he concluded.