Lyon unable to watch doco's emotional moment

Nathan Lyon has revealed there are moments in the acclaimed documentary series 'The Test' that he's found so confronting he's been compelled to leave the room rather than sit and watch. 

However, the scene that caused greatest angst for Australia's most successful Test off-spinner was not the instant at Headingley last year when he fumbled a run-out chance that would have clinched victory for his team and ensured the Ashes urn was retained. 

Rather, it was the heartfelt speech Lyon delivered when presenting debutant Travis Head with his Baggy Green Cap before the start of Australia's 2018 series against Pakistan in the UAE that the 32-year-old veteran of 96 Tests found too difficult to relive. 

Lyon became overwhelmed by emotion as he referred to Head – who he had previously played alongside with South Australia – as his "little brother" in episode two of the eight-part documentary that has been screening on Amazon Prime. 

It was a rare and raw insight into the Australia Test team cap presentation huddle that has remained off-limits to outsiders until now, and Lyon claimed he felt overcome once again when watching it on television at his Sydney home recently. 

"It was actually quite hard to watch it back, I was sitting in the lounge with my partner Emma and I had to get up and walk away, because I knew what was happening," Lyon said today. 

"But Em had never seen it before.  

"Obviously that was a pretty special moment, probably up there with one of the proudest moments of my career to be honest." 

Lyon also spoke at length recently about the emotional impact of Australia's loss in the third Ashes Test at Headingley last year, in which he fumbled the run-out chance with England nine wickets down and needing two runs to win. 

He told the 'Ordineroli Speaking' podcast with sports journalist Neroli Meadows he was "gutted, I felt like I dropped the Ashes" and felt numb upon returning to his Leeds hotel room after the match that England won thanks to the batting heroics of allrounder Ben Stokes. 

But the record-breaking spinner, whose 390 Test wickets currently rank him third among Australia's all-time greats behind Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563), claimed his pain was eased in the weeks that followed Headingley when Australia retained the urn. 

And it's the moment when Test skipper Tim Paine triumphantly holds the tiny trophy aloft after the fifth Test at The Oval, even though Australia lost that match and drew the series 2-2, that Lyon can happily watch over and over again on his couch. 

"Obviously you're going to think about the missed opportunities," Lyon said today. 

"That's part of cricket, and that’s part of the learning as well.  

"If you can learn from those experiences then you can get better and that's my goal.  

"But what helps get over it is seeing Tim Paine lift up the urn.  

"I've certainly watched that a couple of times here at home reliving that moment. 

"I've actually watched (the Headingley finish) a few times to be honest, trying to figure out where I can get better and how I can get better.  

"You get through Headingley, and then you watch Manchester and you watch the joy there.  

"But then you’re able to sit there and watch Painey lift up the urn at The Oval, which has been one of my biggest goals since I started playing cricket for Australia - I wanted to be able to stand at The Oval and make sure that we took the urn home.  

"It was unfortunate that we didn't win the series, but if you said to me that we’d make the World Cup semi-final and that we would retain the Ashes, I would have taken that before heading over there.  

"So, it was a pretty amazing experience and one where I've learnt a lot about myself throughout that whole Ashes series."