Historic all-abilities match brings star spinner back to Home of Cricket for first time since being hobbled during last year’s Test series

Given his painfully harrowing experience at the venue barely a year earlier, Nathan Lyon could be forgiven for shying away from a return visit to Lord’s.

But when he signed to play with English county Lancashire during the current northern summer, one of the prime attractions of the deal was an opportunity to be part of the historic first all-abilities matches staged at the Home of Cricket.

Lyon was a guest, along with England Test-capped keeper Ben Foakes and UK-based Australian comedian Adam Hills, when Lord’s hosted a 10-over exhibition match for visually impaired players followed by a 40-over all-abilities game on Monday.

As Cricket Australia’s National Ambassador for Cricketers with a Disability, Lyon has spent much of the past decade coaching, supporting and learning from participants with hearing, vision and learning disabilities.

However, it was the involvement of players with physical disabilities such as amputees that caught his eye during the full day he spent at Lord’s where Ashes rivalries were (mostly) put aside.

“I was keen to see the differences in how the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) run their disability cricket and if there’s anything we can potentially take back to CA to help improve the all-abilities program at home,” Lyon told cricket.com.au from London.

“It’s pretty similar in most areas, but one area where England focus and do really well is the physical disabilities such as amputees and getting them involved.

“The game on Monday had teams made up of learning disabilities, hearing disabilities and physical disabilities and it was pretty special to see the first match of its kind being played out on the turf at Lord’s.

“This day was talked about when I first signed with Lancashire, and even though I played my last game over here three weeks ago I wanted to make sure I stayed on because the opportunity to come down to Lord’s for this occasion was too good to pass up.

“It was just a great chance to come along and learn, and also hopefully inspire some boys and girls to play the game which truly is a game for all.

“I feel like there’s so much each and every one of us can learn about everyday things we take for granted, whether it’s crossing the road or driving a car or even walking down stairs.

“So to come and be part of an event like this is quite inspiring and rewarding, and it’s something I thoroughly enjoy.”

Lyon’s reference to the challenges many face simply descending a set of stairs is especially poignant given the enduring images of his previous visit to Lord’s for last year’s second Ashes Test.

Having suffered a serious calf injury when fielding on day two, Lyon defied the advice of his wife, Emma, and teammates including skipper Pat Cummins to painstakingly make his way down from the Australia dressing room and out to bat where he and Mitchell Starc added a valuable 15 runs.

Australia won that match by 43 runs with Alex Carey’s stumping of England’s Jonny Bairstow sending the Lord’s crowd into a day-five frenzy, and Lyon admits the reception he received at the ground yesterday was far less hostile than a year earlier.

With England’s blind and vision impaired team led by Edward Hossell embarking on their own Ashes quest to Australia next November for a multi-format series in Queensland, Lyon instead found himself being grilled on more contemporary matters.

“They were trying to get the low-down on (star Australia batters) Oscar (Stubbs) and Stef (Nero) as well as some of the other boys I know back home, but I didn’t let through any secrets,” Lyon said.

“I also had a few people giving me some fairly straightforward advice, especially from the learning disability guys but I just told them to make sure they stayed in their crease and that got a bit of a laugh.

“It was nice to get back to Lord’s for the first time since the Ashes.

“It’s a great place to visit and I’m always happy to have one of those famous lunches, but it was even nicer to be able to walk out of the ground at the end of the day without the help of crutches.”

In addition to joining in practice with blind and visually impaired players in the Nursery nets area and taking in the contest between a Marylebone Cricket Club XI and England and Wales Cricket Board Chair’s XI, Lyon was also introduced to table cricket in the famous Long Room.

With similarities to the much-loved Test Match tabletop board game, this version is played on a larger scale with three fielders positioned on each of the side boundaries moving plastic panels along the ‘fence’ to try and intercept scoring shots.

They can also effect dismissals if the ball makes contact with the red centrepiece of the panels, while bowlers can impart various forms of swing to try and deceive a batter who wields a miniature bat such as those sold at memorabilia outlets.

“Table cricket was a new one for me,” said Lyon who returns to Australia later this week.

“I had a go at it and it’s a bit like air hockey, but with a ping-pong ball that’s got little ball bearings inside so you can swing it and have a few other things if you’re bowling.

“It’s pretty cool, and they take them to retirement homes as well and let people with dementia and other similar conditions play it, which has been a massive hit in the UK.

“A lot of the kids with learning disabilities that we played with on Monday thoroughly enjoyed it.

“Plus there’s a rule called ‘ballistic hitting’ – you’re not allowed to hit the ball too hard, and a few people got warnings for that which I thought was pretty interesting.

“As a bowler, I was thinking perhaps that’s something we might need in T20 cricket.”