To make matters worse, Lyon missed a crucial runout in the dying stages of the game. But rather than look for a dark corner to hide, Lyon could not be more upbeat about this summer’s Ashes, which are scheduled to begin with the first Test in Brisbane from December 8.

He was not fussed by the prospect of having to isolate for two weeks in Brisbane before the Test, despite his home state of NSW having dropped quarantine requirements.

“If the first Test is in Brisbane, let’s go and do quarantine,” Lyon said. “I’ll go and do it now. I’m ready, I’m excited, I can’t wait. Quarantine is a short period of your life and I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to get out and train, which we’re pretty grateful for.”

Lyon has had a long pre-season with his state after Cricket NSW spent a month unsuccessfully trying to get the Blues into quarantine in the Northern Territory then South Australia, so they could begin their Sheffield Shield campaign. Some states have already played two matches.

Matches have subsequently been arranged with fellow COVID state Victoria, with the first at Drummoyne Oval beginning next Wednesday.

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He took a tumble in the field at Hurstville and was ruled out of the remainder of the practice match as a precaution but has declared himself fit for the Shield game.

He’s had plenty of time to work on “a couple of mystery balls” for England’s batsmen.

“I’ve always got a couple of mystery balls,” he said with a smile. “That’s been the beauty about this pre-season, it’s been my first ever proper pre-season. I’ve been able to do a lot of fitness work and a lot of skills work. I’ve already started looking at a couple of England’s batters, so that’s exciting.”

Lyon does not hold with the observation that, world-class captain Joe Root aside, England’s other batsmen resemble shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic.

“They’ve got some very talented batters early in their Test careers,” he said. “Look at Ollie Pope’s last red-ball game. He got a pretty big double-hundred. It’s going to be a different challenge for these guys, coming out to Australia and we want that.”

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