I WON’T BE TAMED, SAYS LYON

Nathan Lyon insists he has no regrets over his unprovoked attack on England players past and present, instead inviting the current crop to ‘come and get me’. Lyon backed up his tough talk before the first test, when he said australia wanted to emulate the ashes whitewash of four years ago and ‘end some careers’, with a leading role in the 10-wicket victory at the Gabba. ‘I stand by my comments,’ he said. ‘It’s the australian way. I’m here to play cricket and represent my country in the best possible way.’ Lyon grabbed five wickets and took the strain away from australia’s three-man pace attack. England struggled to put pressure on him, but Lyon said he relished a change of approach from the tourists. ‘I like it when opposition guys try to whack me out of the attack,’ the off-spinner said. ‘England will come prepared and they’ll have a different plan for me. It’s about adapting, enjoying the challenge and embracing the game of cricket.’ Lyon was on comparatively tame form yesterday, but surely australia’s new irritant-in-chief would grasp the opportunity to stoke the flames of Jonny Bairstow’s head-butt and Ben Stokes’s absence? ‘I’m not going to comment about Stokes or Bairstow,’ said Lyon (right), dashing the media’s hopes of more outlandish quotes. ‘that’s up to the ECB. they’re a great organisation.’ England will try to be more proactive against Lyon in Saturday’s second test, but he is ready. ‘they can attack me if they want,’ he said. ‘I don’t think I’ve spooked anyone. there was a lot more positive intent shown against my bowling in their second innings. ‘It provides a great challenge when guys come at you hard. then you’re in with a chance of taking wickets.’ he even said some nice things about England. ‘they’re going to come back hard,’ he said. ‘they’re a classy side with a very exciting young captain in Joe Root. If you don’t respect teams, they can come and bite you. We can’t just expect it to happen again for us.’