London: Nathan Lyon, an off-spinner of Australia, is now just the sixth player in cricket history to appear in 100 straight Test matches.

Lyon played his 100th straight Test cricket match in the Lord's game. Due of this, he gains access to a select group that only contains five additional players.

He is currently the first bowler and sixth player overall to play 100 straight Tests. Alastair Cook (159), Allan Border (153), Mark Waugh (107), Sunil Gavaskar (106) and Brendon McCullum (101) are more athletes on the list.

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He coincidentally reached this milestone at Lord's, the location where he was previously removed from the format. Almost ten years ago, in 2013, Australia was touring England.

Speaking to Cricket Australia on the eve of this historic milestone, the off-spinner expressed his pride in this accomplishment and even made a joke about how playing too many Test matches had caused him to lose his hair.

“That's something I'm really proud of. To be able to tick off 100 consecutive Test matches, that's a proper stat in my head,” Lyon said. “That's a lot of Test cricket, a lot of ups and downs. No wonder I've got no hair.”

For this extended stretch, Lyon gave appreciation to his family and support system, which also included his personal trainer Tom Carter of the New South Wales Waratahs.

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“For any athlete to be successful over a long period of time, you've got to have really good people around you, and I'm not talking within the Australian cricket team,” he added.

“I feel like my family has been absolutely amazing, with their support and love and care. Then there is Tom Carter, who is arguably one of my best mates but also my PT who I do a lot of work with behind the scenes.

“It's probably five days a week when we're at home, and he's a psychologist as well as a fitness trainer because I'm able to vent to him and there's no judgement. We have really good conversations, so it's probably having those really good people around you and I dare say a lot athletes would feel the same, being able to do it for a long period of time.” 

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