Nathan Lyon has admitted he can’t believe he’s about to join an illustrious group of players to have played 100 Test matches for Australia.
Lyon will become the 13th Australian to join the list of players to have donned the baggy green 100 times for Australia, a list that includes Ricky Ponting, Steve and Mark Waugh, Allan Border, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Mark Taylor, David Boon, Shane Warne and Ian Healy.
“When you stop and think about the path my career has taken, where I started to where I am now, it’s pretty incredible,” Lyon told Pat & Heals.
“It probably wasn’t until I got within about 10 tests that I thought Jesus, this might actually be within reach here.
"So I tried get the family up here to Brisbane which I’ve been able to do, so it’s very exciting."
Lyon spoke candidly about the honour it is to join such an exclusive group of Australian cricketers.
“It’s massive and I’m going to pinch myself when my name goes up alongside those guys. In my eyes those 12 players are absolute legends of Australian and world cricket,” Lyon said.
“To think that I’d be up there with those guys having played over 100 Test matches for Australia, it’s pretty amazing and I’ll definitely pinch myself for the rest of my life.
Lyon admitted there’s a lot of work to do to clinch the Border–Gavaskar Trophy before he can put his feet up and reflect on his journey to 100 Test matches.
“I know there’s a lot of hard work to be done and hopefully we can go out there and play a good brand of cricket that the Australian team wants to play under captain Tim Paine and make sure that we wrap up the series with a win,” Lyon said.
“It’s been an absolutely amazing series to be a part of and I think it’s going to be an absolutely cracking Test match.”
The fifth and decisive Test between Australia and India begins on Friday at the GABBA.