Nathan Lyon has injured his ankle playing a game of rugby league in an Australia training session, but is not considered a doubt ahead of the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford.
The incident was reported by Daniel Brettig, assistant editor of ESPNcricinfo, from Derbyshire where the Australian team are preparing for a warm-up game ahead of the Test which begins on Thursday 4 September.
Brettig tweeted: “Drama at Derbyshire. Nathan Lyon looks to have hurt an ankle or something like it during Aust touch footy game. Limping heavily, straight into the rooms with doctor Richard Saw.”
Cricket Australia confirmed the incident, tweeting: "A bit of a scare for the Aussies at training today, but (Lyon) is all good."
The spinner is crucial to Australia's hopes in the remaining two matches having taken 14 wickets so far in the series, bettered only by his teammate Pat Cummins with 17 wickets.
The Ashes are in the balance following an extraordinary third Test at Headingley, where Ben Stokes produced what was widely described as one of the greatest Test innings of all time to almost single-handedly win the game and level the series at 1-1.
Lyon was in the thick of the action, missing a last-gasp opportunity to run out Stokes’ final partner, Jack Leach, before seeing an LBW appeal against Stokes turned down by umpire Joel Wilson despite ball-tracking technology suggesting the ball would have gone on to hit the stumps.
