Australia and England were involved in a thriller in the first Ashes Test that saw the visitors keeping their nerves and taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Nathan Lyon played a crucial role not only with the ball but also with the bat especially in the second innings. The off-spinner picked up four wickets each in both innings and then played vital hand with the bat scoring an unbeaten 16 in the match-winning ninth wicket partnership of 55 runs with skipper Pat Cummins.
Lyon has been the vital cog in the wheel for Australia in red-ball cricket and not even once, the man has underperformed for the team. For the same reason, he has never been dropped from the side as well and this is leading to a huge record in the Lord's Test which Lyon will obviously play for Australia. When the offie will be named in the playing XI of the second Ashes Test, he will become only the seventh player in history to play 100 consecutive Test matches without getting dropped or missing any game due to injury.
Only two Australians - Mark Waugh and Allan Border - have achieved this feat before for Australia playing 107 and 153 consecutive Test matches repectively. The other players in this list are - Alastair Cook, Sunil Gavaskar and Brendon McCullum.
Cook is at the top of the charts having played 159 consecutive Test matches for England while Gavaskar, the only Indian to achieve this feat, didn't miss 106 consecutive Test matches for his country. Nathan Lyon has a great chance to climb up the ladder in this aspect in the near future as he continues to perform for Australia and there is no threat to his position either unless he decides to step away from the sport.
List of players to play most consecutive Test matches for a team:
Alastair Cook - 159 Tests
Allan Border - 153 Tests
Mark Waugh - 107 Tests
Sunil Gavaskar - 106 Tests
Brendon McCullum - 101 Tests
Nathan Lyon - 99* Tests (ahead of Lord's Ashes Test)
