Nathan Lyon has officially handed over the responsibility of leading Australia’s traditional victory song to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, marking the end of an era but not the end of his own playing days.
The role, which involves leading “Under The Southern Cross I Stand,” has been a cherished team tradition started by Rod Marsh. Lyon inherited the honor from Mike Hussey back in 2013 after Hussey’s retirement and has held it longer than any other player. While Carey briefly led the song during the 2023 Ashes when Lyon was injured, Australia didn’t win any Tests after his exit.
Memorable Moments Leading the Song
Across his 119 Tests as song-master, Lyon celebrated 67 victories. He fondly remembers emotional renditions, especially after the Adelaide Oval Test win over India following Phil Hughes’ passing and the jubilant celebrations during the 2013-14 5-0 Ashes whitewash.
Reflecting on his time in the role, Lyon shared:
“𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 12, 13 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓.”
No Thoughts of Retirement Yet
Despite stepping back from this team ritual, Lyon has no plans to call time on his career. His ambitions remain firmly set on conquering two of Australia’s most challenging overseas missions—winning Test series in India and England.
He clarified:
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑰’𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅.”
Lyon emphasized he’s taking things “Test by Test,” but also has big goals like reaching another World Test Championship final and playing in the home Ashes series.
Passing the Torch to Alex Carey
Lyon had planned to hand over the role at the World Test Championship final had Australia beaten India, but that moment was delayed. Instead, in Barbados, he slipped a letter under Carey’s door after the second day’s play.
He explained:
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅.”
Lyon said it was the right time:
“𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆. 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒓𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕.”
Looking Ahead: More Milestones in Sight
Lyon’s long career has seen him become one of Australia’s most enduring bowlers. He and Mitchell Starc are the only players left from the 2012 West Indies tour, with Starc soon to play his 100th Test.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆,” 𝑳𝒚𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒔**𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 2012.”
With at least two more years in mind, Lyon is on course to surpass 600 Test wickets and perhaps even close in on Shane Warne’s record of 708. He averages about four wickets per Test and could approach 650 by the 2027 Ashes.
However, Lyon remained humble about chasing records:
“𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚’𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔, 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆.”
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