“I am going to take him on…”: England’s Harry Brook warns veteran Aussie spinner ahead of 1st Ashes Test

London [UK], June 15 (ANI): Young England batter Harry Brook has fired a warning shot ahead of the first Ashes Test against Australia, saying that he is gonna “take Nathan Lyon on”.

Australia’s spinner is likely to be on the receiving end of some aggressive batting tactics in the Ashes over the next two months. Only three spinners in the history of the game have taken more wickets than Nathan Lyon, who finished the last cycle of the World Test Championship in 2021-23 as its leading wicket-taker with 88.
But the 35-year-old’s record would not stop England from going after him with their new aggressive style of play.

And Brook has confirmed exactly what Lyon can expect from him at Edgbaston in this week’s first Test of the series.

“If he bowls a good ball then I am going to respect it. But other than that, I am going to try and take him on. He could get a lot of wickets, but hopefully, we are going to hit him for a lot of runs,” said Brook as quoted by ICC.

“I would like to think I am a player who can find gaps and hit different gaps, I try and play all around the wicket. I will see whatever field he has; I am sure they will probably start with everybody up and we will go from there,” he added.

Brook has enjoyed a remarkable start to his Test career, averaging 81.80 with four centuries and three fifties to his name after seven Tests.

“I probably was not thinking I was going to have that start, but I would take it every day of the week. It has been a whirlwind six months really, the best winter I could have ever asked for and long may it continue,” he said.

“I am, looking forward to the Ashes. Australia is one of the best teams in the world off the back of a World Test Championship win, and I have always wanted to play against the best players in the world and see how good I really am.”

“I am looking forward to facing those boys and challenging myself against them and whatever plans they have against me,” he concluded.

And the talented 24-year-old is looking forward to playing in the series that inspired him as a youngster.

“It is definitely a dream come true to be involved in my first Ashes. I was growing up watching the very best players from England and Australia facing each other,” said Brook.

“Obviously the 2005 Ashes was a big one. I can always remember the over (Andrew) Flintoff bowled to (Ricky) Ponting and KP (Kevin Pietersen) smacking it everywhere against (Shane) Warne and (Glenn) McGrath, those boys.”

“They were my earliest memories. I am going to go out there and play the way I have done in the last 12 months. I hope that’s enough to inspire a few too,” he concluded.

But there could be some pressure on Brook after a relatively disappointing stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Brook scored a superb century early in the competition but ended the IPL having scored just 90 runs in his other ten visits to the crease, finishing with an average of 21.11 and a strike rate of 123.37.

However, Brook is not perturbed by that lack of runs and is not expecting it to have any knock-on effect on his Ashes performances.

“It is a different format, different environment. I have said plenty of times that this environment is the best I have been in and I am going to go out there and be fearless,” he concluded.

The Ashes begin on Friday at Edgbaston, with England having already named their starting XI for that first Test.

The Ashes fixtures

First Test: June 16 – June 20, Edgbaston

Second Test: June 28 – July 2, Lord’s

Third Test: July 6 – July 10, Headingley

Fourth Test: July 19 – July 23, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: July 27 – July 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Moeen Ali, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.