Lyon's sole focus on retaining Ashes as 400th wicket milestone looms

Far from being jaded by the pressures of retaining the Ashes, or the near 11-month runway between a 399^th and 400^th Test scalp, the 34-year-old is eagerly embracing the next challenge of his enduring cricket career.

He's not bothered by external commentary, such as Shane Warne suggesting his time in the national team is almost up.

His motivation is purely helping the Australian team fend off the English visitors, to keep the urn down under as long as possible, and to continue wearing his prized Baggy Green with pride.

Should a 400^th wicket fall into his lap, that will simply be another milestone in a decade of unprecedented achievement since his rapid rise from Manuka Oval curator to Australia's greatest off spinner.

"I'll never put a goal on how many wickets I want to take because it's so unpredictable - winning games of cricket for Australia is more important," Lyon told The Canberra Times on the eve of the Gabba Test.

"I'm always dreaming, and I never stop dreaming, I'm just going to have to play my role and if it [the 400^th wicket] comes, when it comes, how it comes, it doesn't really worry me.

"I recall all the milestone wickets. I've been very fortunate with where I am at the moment but hopefully a lot more to come.

"It [cricket] is always in the back of my mind. I'm a cricket nuffy, I absolutely love the game, it's something I'll always think about especially the outcome of series, who you're playing against, who's going to come out, what conditions you'll be playing in.

"There's so much about this game that you can still learn from. I've said it before I've never met anyone who's conquered the game of cricket and I definitely won't conquer the game."

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To say the build up to Lyon's 400^th Test wicket has been a long time coming would be severely understating COVID-19's impact on the world cricket calendar.

Australia hasn't played a Test since losing to India at home last summer. Lyon played his 100^th Test in that series, which was also at the Gabba, but managed just three wickets in the match leaving him stranded on 399 Test scalps.

A tour of South Africa was scheduled earlier this year, but Cricket Australia opted to pull out in February due to an alarming rise in Covid cases in the country.

Ultimately, it allowed Lyon and his Australian teammates to reset as Australian bunkered down into lockdown mode to try and contain the virus.

"To be honest with you, lockdown was pretty good, seeing as I haven't spent much time at home for the last 10 years, it was actually quite nice to spend some decent time at home," Lyon said.

"We were allowed to get out and train so we were doing a lot of training with NSW. It's the first time I've been able to get a proper preseason under my belt, and do a lot of work with [fitness coach] Tom Carter.

"The ball's coming out as good as it can. I'm bloody excited to be honest with you, it's been a long time coming, a long prep into this first Test match."

England are expected to go into the first Test without veteran spearhead Jimmy Anderson, who is nursing a calf complaint.

That clearly hands the advantage to Australia, but no doubt England selectors are harbouring a longer-term view to carefully managing their key quick throughout the series.

Lyon will carry his typical confidence into the Ashes, but was wary of an English outfit he expected to perform much better than the bookmakers would suggest.

"It's going to be probably a lot closer than what everyone feels," Lyon said.

"I can tell you one thing - I always go out there thinking we're going to win the series, and that we're going to go through the series undefeated.

"The England side are an extremely well respected squad and they've got some absolute superstars. You want to challenge yourself against some of the best players in the world and we're going to come up against a couple of the best players in the world over the next five weeks."