Lyon expects wounded Poms to come out firing

AUSTRALIAN spinner Nathan Lyon says England aren’t spooked just yet and he expects a brazen counter- attack from the tourists in the second Ashes Test.

“We respect the English, we know they’re going to come back bigger and better and stronger. It’s not going to be a walk in the park,” Lyon said.

England enter the day- night second Test in Adelaide starting on Saturday with off- field troubles their on- field woes.

The tourists have enacted a curfew after Jonny Bairstow’s headbutt of new Australian opener Cameron Bancroft and remain uncertain if all- rounder Ben Stokes will join the squad.

But Lyon, who refused to comment on either Bairstow or Stokes, said it would be folly to write off the Englishmen.

“One of the dangerous little periods is when teams are far down or in turmoil if compounding you want to call it that. I don’t think they are,” Lyon said. “If you don’t respect a team, that’s when they can come back and bite you. We have just got to go out there and prepare the way the Australian team prepares and make sure come day one of this Test match, we’re firing and hopefully carrying on from where we left off in Brissy.

“We can’t sit on our hands and just think it’s going to happen again.”

Lyon said England’s batsmen would likely adopt a more aggressive approach to his spinners after his suffocating first st Test display but warned such a tactic ic would “play into my hands”.

“It’s a game of cricket, I don’t think I spooked anyone,” he said. “I like it when en opposition guys try to attack me and try ry to whack me out of the attack.

“Name of the game is to take wickets ts and score runs, so no doubt England will ill come prepared and they’ll have a differrent plan for me compared to what they ey did in the first Test.”