Ashes 2023: Todd Murphy not the next Nathan Lyon but he is very good, says Tim Paine

Former Australian skipper Tim Paine reckons Todd Murphy is not the next Nathan Lyon but he is very good. Murphy will replace Lyon in the third Ashes Test match at Headingley as the latter has been ruled out with a calf strain, which he suffered in the first innings of the second Test match at Lord’s.

This will be the first-ever Ashes Test for the 22-year-old youngster and he would want to grab his chance with both hands. The rookie spinner had impressed on India’s tour in the Border-Gavaskar series earlier in the year.

Murphy scalped 14 wickets in four Test matches against India at an average of 25.2. The young off-spinner also bagged a seven-fer on his debut Test match at Nagpur and that performance must have given a shot in the arm.

“I am not going to say he is the next Nathan Lyon but he is very, very good. I have played against him a little bit and I have seen him around, he is the kind of young fellow that I find in terms of temperament, he is not going to be knocked around by,” Paine said on the SEN Breakfast.

The former wicket-keeper bat Paine backed Murphy to deliver at the top level against England. Paine feels the youngster has got the skillsets to come good in the Ashes and we also saw what he can do in the series against India.

“I think he will step straight into it. I think he loves it. He is very smart. He has got an old head on his body for a young guy and I think he will handle the big occasion both mentally really well and I think skill-wise we saw in India. He has got the skills to play at this level and I think he will do a good job.”

Murphy was right on the money on India’s tour and he will look to deliver in the third Test against England. The third Ashes Test will be played at Leeds, Headingley from Thursday onwards.

Australia squad for Leeds Test:

David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson.