By Matthew Sullivan
The veteran offspinner revealed he made the call to pass the baton to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who officially led the team song for the first time last week after Australia鈥檚 win over the West Indies in the first Test in Barbados.
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Code Sports鈥 Dan Cherny reports Lyon wanted to pass on the songmaster duties to Carey after the World Test Championship Final, but South Africa鈥檚 win put those plans on ice, given the song is only sung after Test victories.
Lyon delivered a handwritten note to Carey鈥檚 hotel room in Barbados, informing him he had chosen the South Australian as the new master of Under the Southern Cross I Stand.
鈥淗e was pretty taken aback by it, but yeah, it was a pretty cool moment,鈥 said Lyon, who clarified he has no plans to retire from Test cricket yet.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no talk about me retiring or even thoughts coming in my head. It鈥檚 more about the team environment, making sure that I get the opportunity to pass it onto someone who I look at and absolutely love and the way he goes about it on and off the field.
鈥淎nd I feel like Alex is the perfect candidate. I can鈥檛 feel like I鈥檝e run my race with it, and it鈥檚 time for someone else to put their touch on.鈥
Carey had filled in as songmaster for three Tests during the 2023 Ashes when Lyon was out with a calf injury.
The 33-year-old joins Mike Hussey, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Ian Healy, Allan Border and Rod Marsh as custodians of the song that gets belted out after a Test match win.
Hussey bestowed the honour to Lyon at the time of his retirement in early 2013, and it proved a prescient choice given the longevity of Lyon鈥檚 career.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure (who to choose) at the time because the team was in a bit of transition when I was coming to the end,鈥 Hussey told news.com.au on Tuesday.
鈥淚 knew deep down Nathan was a great character and I hoped he鈥檇 go on to have a long career and thankfully he has.
鈥淚 sort of made my mind up in my own mind and wrote Nathan a nice letter and just explained why I thought he was the right man to take on the great honour.
鈥淭hen we had a bit of a chat about it all and that was pretty much it. By the sound of it, it was a similar process with Nath passing it onto Alex.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 led the song more than 120 times, he鈥檚 definitely done it justice.
鈥淚 think Alex will do the job wonderfully well. He鈥檚 a great guy, much loved in the team and really appreciates everything that goes with playing for Australia.
鈥淗e respects the history of the game, the traditions, the past players. He has great respect for that and he鈥檚 a great character. Hopefully some of his great traits get passed onto the next generation through the song.鈥
Hussey said he was initially worried Lyon was retiring from cricket when he heard he was giving up the songmaster duties.
鈥淚t was a bit of a surprise,鈥 the beloved middle order batter said.
鈥淚 was holding by breath a bit wondering if Nathan was going to retire, but thankfully he鈥檚 not going.
鈥淗e鈥檚 led the song more than any of the songmasters and he probably got to the stage where he thought his time is done with it and it鈥檚 time to pass it on to someone else.
鈥淗e can probably just relax about it now because I knew he used to get a bit stressed when the time came to sing the song.鈥
The second Test in the West Indies will be Lyon鈥檚 138th Test, and the offspinner still wants to continue playing Test cricket, driven by the goal of elusive series wins in England and India.
Lyon is on 556 wickets, seven scalps behind Glenn McGrath鈥檚 tally of 563 wickets on the list of Australia鈥檚 all-time wicket takers.
The second Test between Australia and the West Indies begins in Grenada on Friday morning (AEST).
Steve Smith is expected to be available for selection following a compound finger dislocation sustained in the World Test Championship Final.