MELBOURNE: Cricket Australia (CA) on Monday, confirmed that veteran spinner Nathan Lyon has been ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes series due to a significant calf tear.
The confirmation came when CA made tweaks to their squad for the ongoing away Ashes campaign, which they lead 2-0.
The tweaks meant that the reserve batter Matthew Renshaw has also been released from the squad but will remain in England and be available if the touring side suffers an injury scare.
Since the updated 16-player roster does not contain any substitutes for Lyon, fellow off-spinner Todd Murphy is set to enter the lineup after a strong maiden Test series in India earlier this year.
“It’s not looking good at the moment, it’s a significant tear to the calf and it’ll be series ending,” Andrew McDonald said, with Todd Murphy expected to replace him for the third Test at Headingley on Thursday.
“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.
“At times it looked a bit chaotic, so we do like to have that spin option in the attack.”
No replacements were added to Australia’s squad while Queensland wicketkeeper batter Jimmy Peirson will remain with the team as cover for Josh Inglis, who returned to Perth following the first Test for the birth of his first child.
Earlier on Friday, veteran off-spinner arrived at the Lord’s on crutches for the third day of the ongoing second Ashes Test.
Nathan Lyon, who limped off the field from the second session on Thursday after sustaining a calf injury while fielding, looked distraught as he got medical attention on the boundary while his teammate Steve Smith hinted the off-spinner could be out of action for “a while”.
The incident happened after Nathan Lyon was spotted hobbling out with the physio in the 37th over of England’s innings briefly after completing his spell. Lyon appeared to be in obvious distress as he chased a ball to the fence and was promptly taken off from the field.
Nathan Lyon required crutches to join his teammates at Lord’s on Friday morning, as he limped into the ground’s iconic pavilion. His right calf was also covered in a bandage, with Australia expected to give an update on his fitness shortly.
The off-spinner had incidentally become just the sixth player, and the first-ever bowler, to play 100 consecutive Tests in the same match on Wednesday.
READ: Australia win second Ashes Test despite Ben Stokes century