Whitewashing Sri Lanka will push Australia closer to Test greatness, reckons Nathan Lyon | Cricket News

Defending World Test Championship winners are still not a great team, reckons spin veteran Nathan Lyon. However, a series cleansweep in Sri Lanka would help the Aussies nudge closer to that mark, he says.
After drubbing the hosts in Galle an innings and 242 runs, Australia are aiming to close the series 2-0 with the second Test starting Thursday. Australia will then enter white-ball mode with two ODIs in Sri Lanka before the Champions Trophy in Pakan this month. The team will regroup later to defend the World Test Championship at Lord’s against South Africa in June.
Since opening the WTC cycle with a 2-2 draw in England, Australia have gone onto win 10 of their next 13 Tests. “It’s about us on our journey to becoming a great team, to make sure we go 2-0 up,” Lyon told reporters.
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Australia’s success has been compared with some of the nation’s great test teams led Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. Asked what would elevate the current group into greatness, Lyon said Australia still needed series wins in India and England.
“We’re on that journey, we’re not there yet but that’s our end goal. We want to be known as a great team, and part of that journey is when we close a window making sure we nail it shut, and we don’t let anyone back in.”
On their last tour of Sri Lanka, Australia conceded a 1-0 lead to split the two-match series with the hosts, who rebounded with an innings and 39-run win in the second test in Galle.
Australia are likely to retain the same three-prong spin attack of Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy for the second Test after they took a total of 17 wickets in the first.Story continues below this ad
“I think we all complement each other really well, with three totally different bowlers with three totally different mindsets as well,” said 37-year-old Lyon, who took seven wickets in the series-opener.
“I feel like I’m learning off Todd and Matt, and I feel like they’re pushing me to try and get better as well. Hopefully I’m passing on a bit of knowledge here and there.”
– With Reuters inputs
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