Veterans not done yet: Hazlewood and Lyon reject Johnson’s Ashes exit remarks in The Nightly

Nathan Lyon says the ageing members of the Australian team are not waiting around for a grand send-off during the Ashes this summer, while Josh Hazlewood has defended his decision to return to the IPL instead of beginning his World Test Championship (WTC) preparation early, after the pair were among those criticised by Mitchell Johnson last week.

Writing for The Sunday Times and The Nightly, Johnson wrote the Australian selectors faced tough decisions regarding the veterans in the team following the WTC loss to South Africa at Lord’s earlier this month.

“Our successful ‘big four’ bowling attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon can’t be taken for granted as a lock going forward either,” Johnson wrote.

“We’ve seen concerns about Hazlewood’s fitness in recent years, and his decision to prioritise returning to the delayed Indian Premier League over his national team preparations raised eyebrows. Lyon didn’t look his best on day three either.

“If veteran players are sticking around just for the Ashes as a send-off, it does beg the question of whether that’s the right mindset. It’s crucial that we embrace the future and build confidence in selecting our next Test players.”

Hazlewood, 34, has a career bowling average of 24.7 over 73 Tests and took 35 wickets at an average of 13.6 in 2024.

He took 2-85 at Lord’s and was part of a 59-run tenth wicket stand with Mitchell Starc that put Australia in a much-stronger position ahead of South Africa’s second dig after Australia’s batters failed in both innings.

Speaking in Bridgetown ahead of the first Test against the West Indies on Wednesday, Hazlewood explained why he decided to return to the IPL in late May after it was halted following air strikes between India and Pakistan.

“It seemed far and away the best place to get ready for any type of cricket that was coming up,” he said.

“The weather was definitely a factor as well. Just getting over there and playing intense competition like that — it’s hard to replicate in training.

“In Sydney, it was raining and I had literally nowhere to bowl. I got to Brisbane for three or four days and it was very wet. We were lucky to get on. I just thought the best place to bowl was India. We were still in the competition, we were going to play semis, and I was going to be there for 10 days.”

Lyon, now aged 37, denied he had his sights set on retiring after the home Ashes series.

He has a bowling average of 30.33 for the 553 wickets he has taken across 137 Tests. In 2024 he had an average of 22.69 over nine Tests, taking 33 wickets.

“Regarding ‘Johnno’, there’s nothing really to be said there,” Lyon said.

“We never take any of our positions for granted. There’s that much competition within the squad … and guys putting the senior players under pressure.

“There’s no one planning a farewell tour or anything like that. I don’t see why the guys can’t keep going for a number of years. They’re only doing that for the betterment of Australian cricket. We want to play in games, we want to win games.

“That (South Africa loss) does still sting a fair bit, to be honest with you.

“We’re really proud of the last two years that we’ve had to reach the final. Everyone says how hard finals are to reach, but we got outplayed. And that’s the disappointing part of it — a tough pill to swallow.”

The selectors did heed Johnson’s analysis that Marnus Labuschagne had run out of chances, dropping the Queenslander for Sam Konstas for the upcoming three-Test series.