Australia’s Ashes party has been put on hold after Nathan Lyon injured his right hamstring in the field on the morning of day five.

After ripping the heart out of England on day four, Lyon immediately felt for the top of his right hamstring after diving to field a ball on the fine-leg boundary on Sunday.

The 38-year-old attempted to get up, before calling for assistance and limping from the field and straight up the race at the Adelaide Oval.

England began day five at 6-207 in pursuit of an unlikely 435 for victory, with the tourists having reached 6-249 when Lyon hobbled from the field.

Lyon initially appeared as if he did not spot the hook shot from Jamie Smith, before rushing to his right and diving for the ball to save the boundary.

The spinner’s injury immediately brought back memories of Lyon’s torn calf in the second Test of the 2023 Ashes, which ruled him out of the series.

Australia remain in the box seat to retain the urn on Sunday by wrapping up the Adelaide Test and taking an unassailable 3-0 lead.

But with quick turnarounds between Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, any injury to Lyon would create significant headaches for Australia.

The veteran took two key wickets in the first innings in Adelaide, before running through England’s middle order in the second with 3-77.

Todd Murphy has traditionally been Australia’s next-choice offspinner, while Matt Kuhnemann and Corey Rocchiccioli could also come into calculations.