Nathan Lyon unfazed by Graeme Swann’s ‘weakest link’ swipe ahead of Ashes series

Off-spinner feeling confident despite being called Australia’s ‘weakest link’ in Ashes.

Nathan Lyon, left, became Australia’s most successful off-spinner on his side’s tour of West Indies this month. Alex Morton / Reuters

Graeme Swann has been accused of “trying to get under Australian skin” after urging England to target off spinner Nathan Lyon during the coming Ashes series.

While former England captain Michael Vaughan has backed Lyon to be the leading wicket taker in the Ashes, Swann has described the 27-year-old off spinner as the tourists’ “weakest link”.

Swann, who retired from Test cricket during England’s miserable 5-0 defeat in Australia in 2013/14, said: “Their spinner, although he takes wickets, is probably their weakest link. I’m not saying Nathan Lyon is a weak link, but he’s probably their weakest.”

But before travelling to Canterbury for their four-day match against Kent, which starts on Thursday, Lyon hit back at the three-time Ashes winner.

“That is Graeme Swann just trying to get under Australian skin,” Lyon said in London.

“I have played 41 Tests and have always been referred to as the weakest link, so it doesn’t really faze me. As I keep saying we have got a great bowling unit and, if we are taking 20 wickets, then we are flying. So that is the main thing.

“One guy is writing me off and the other is giving me a compliment. That’s very nice from Michael Vaughan, but there is a lot of cricket to play. If I end up being lead wicket taker I will be quite happy as long as we take that trophy home.”

This month, Lyon surpassed Hugh Trumble’s 111-year-old record of 141 Test wickets by an Australia off-spinner during the Baggy Greens’ tour of West Indies. He heads into the opening Test of the Ashes series, which begins in Cardiff on July 8, in form and with 146 wickets.

In contrast, his England counterpart Moeen Ali has struggled for form since returning from a side-strain injury. Yet Ali, 28, is set to be the hosts’ first-choice spinner for the Ashes opener in Wales despite calls for Adil Rashid to be blooded against Australia.

“I don’t really care to be honest,” a typically brazen Lyon said when asked about England’s spin options.

“Moeen Ali is a good cricketer but we are playing international cricket, so we’ll respect everyone who comes out there. There is not going to be an easy role for anyone out there and it is going to be a good challenge for each and every one of us.

“We are preparing well. We are training hard and that is all we can ask. Come Cardiff we are going to be all-guns blazing. We are feeling really confident. We are excited and the chance to take the Ashes home after a 14-year drought is really massive so it is really exciting.”

While Lyon’s starting berth is all but assured, Australia coach Darren Lehmann is facing a fast-bowling selection dilemma with Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Ryan Harris, Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle battling for three spots in the tourists’ attack.

“That’s the strength of us at the moment,” Siddle said. “We’ve got five quicks, all fit, all strong and going well. It’s going to be a tough job for the selectors that’s for sure.

Asked if it is the best bowling attack he has been a part of, he said: “Yeah, I think it has to be.”

The misquote that miffed Moores

Peter Moores, dismissed twice as coach of the England cricket team, said his reputation as being obsessed with data analysis is all wrong and based on a misquote.

Breaking his silence since being sacked last month, he told the ESPNCricinfo website that he had been wrongly portrayed in the media as a result of an interview given after England’s dismal performance at the World Cup.

Moores said he told a BBC interviewer he would have to look at it “later”, which was reported as having to look at “data”.

He said he used the word “data” on Sky television but said the public were given the wrong impression of him.

“I have to accept my time as England coach has gone,” Moores said.

“But I am frustrated. The portrayal of me as a coach in the media is just wrong. I don’t know how to change that.

“I have an official letter from the BBC. It’s a tough one. I didn’t say it. We moved away from stats and data. Coaching doesn’t work like that at all.

“It’s not a numbers game. We kept it simple. We tried to give the players responsibility to lead themselves.”

Moores, 52, was first in charge from 2007 until January 2009.

He returned in April 2014 after leading Lancashire to their first county championship title for 77 years but was sacked again 13 months later after Andrew Strauss took over as the new national director of cricket.

The timing of that decision frustrated him, he said as he believed “a corner had been turned” with four wins, one loss and a draw in England’s last six Tests under his stewardship.

At the World Cup, co-hosted earlier this year by Australia and New Zealand, England failed to make it out of the group stage, their fate effectively sealed by a humiliating defeat against Bangladesh.

Australian Trevor Bayliss has replaced Moores as England coach and will lead the side for the first time in a home Ashes series against his compatriots starting next month.

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