Ashes 2023Todd Murphy reveals Nathan Lyon advice ahead of Headingley Test

By India Today Sports DeskTodd Murphy has revealed the advice he got from Nathan Lyon ahead of his potential bow in the Ashes during the Headingley Test against England, which begins on Thursday.

Lyon had suffered a calf injury during the Lord’s Test, which would ultimately rule him out for the remainder of the Ashes 2023 series. With the veteran off-spinner’s absence, Murphy could make his bow in the Ashes after making his debut during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year.

The young spinner ended up picking up 14 wickets during the series against India. Ahead of his first match in the Ashes, Murphy said that he had a talk with Lyon, who told him to trust his skills, believe in it and never shy away from it.

The youngster also said that Lyon told him to not expect to do too much.

“It’s going to be different outlook for me,” he said. “I had a really good chat with Nath, think it was day four or five of the last Test, and he just said trust what you’ve got, believe in it and don’t go away from it. Don’t expect yourself to do too much. My body’s feeling really good at the moment. I’m confident that the work I’ve put in post-India to get that right, hopefully can hold up.”

Murphy also said that he is expecting England to come even harder at him.

“Think they’ll probably come even harder at me,” Murphy said. “Obviously I haven’t played a hell of a lot of Test cricket, there’s a challenge that presents itself. They keep taking the game on and I think it’s about trying to navigate through that, come up with a few different ideas that can help and try to keep creating chances.”

“Looking back on India, getting the opportunity to play Test cricket and being exposed to high-level contests only helps and think I took a lot of confidence from that experience. Trusting that if do get the opportunity, believe in myself that I can be good enough at this level.”