
Nathan Lyon has no intention of retiring anytime soon after passing on his song duties to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
Nathan Lyon passes on song duties but no end in sight of playing days.
Although Nathan Lyon has given Alex Carey the responsibility of leading Australia’s victory song, he has no plans to retire from Test cricket and still hopes to win the India and England series.
After Mike Hussey retired against Sri Lanka in 2013, Lyon took over as song-master, continuing a tradition that began with Rod Marsh. Lyon had been the song-master for the longest period of time. Lyon had played eighteen Test matches. Australia failed to win a Test in the rest of that series, but it temporarily went to Carey during the 2023 Ashes when Lyon was injured.
As the owner of the song “Under The Southern Cross I Stand,” Lyon played 119 Test matches and recorded 67 victories. He most vividly recalls the first Test following Phil Hughes’ passing in 2015, following their victory over India at Adelaide Oval, and their 5-0 Ashes victory in 2013–14.
However, Lyon has two major series in his sights and intends to add many more wins to that total in the years to come.
“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,” Lyon said. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but this definitely doesn’t mean I’m retiring anytime soon. There’s no talk about me retiring or even thoughts coming in my head.
“I’ve always said I want to win away in India, and I want to win away in England. Obviously, we’ve got that opportunity in a couple of years’ time, but we’ve also got to take it Test by Test and make sure we’re doing everything here and getting the games here in West Indies right. Then we’ve got a massive summer at home with the Ashes. But also, another World Test Championship final will be on my cards.”