Todd Murphy will be walking into the proverbial lion's den at Headingley - but the young off-spinner is fully prepared to help Australia retain The Ashes in a hostile environment.
The 22-year-old will come into the lineup for the third Test due to Nathan Lyon's calf injury, giving Murphy his first taste of playing against England in just his fifth match in the Baggy Green.
Murphy is expected to join Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in the bowling attack, with the visitors pushing to gain an unassailable 3-0 series lead.
But after the Jonny Bairstow drama at Lord's, a notoriously raucous Leeds crowd and the ongoing attacking 'Bazball' style, Murphy is more than aware of the challenges that lie ahead.
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Toddy Murphy ready to replace Nathan Lyon
Speaking to SEN Cricket in the lead-up to his Ashes debut, Murphy admitted his mindset to the series shifted rather quickly in the moments following Lyon's untimely injury.
"I obviously knew I was here as backup for Nathan if something was to go wrong, but probably never thought, with how durable he’s been, that that would happen,” he said.
“Now the prospect of playing some Ashes cricket is real, depending on selection, the last few days has probably just been getting my head around the opportunity that’s coming up and just making sure I’m really confident.
“When it happened, you could sort of tell the severity of it straight away by how he pulled up and your mind sort of goes straight away to what that can mean for you, obviously as disappointing as it was for Nath.
“From there you’re sort of trying to wrap your head around going forward and the opportunity that might arise, coming into the biggest series that’s been for a while.
“We’re obviously in a really good position but hope that I can help push forward.”
Murphy took 14 wickets in the recent tour of India, claiming the scalp of Virat Kohli on multiple occasions, but will face a very different task against England.
With the likes of Ben Stokes and Joe Root in strong form and the whole English side playing an extremely attacking brand of cricket, Murphy knows he will be under the pump immediately.
“Definitely under no illusions that they’re going to attack me and come extra hard at me and put some pressure back on me,” he said.
“[I am] just getting my head around that it might not look like bowling 40 overs and going at twos an over, it changes from that... just trying to keep creating chances and take wickets and hopefully play a role.
“It’s really nice to be able to look back on and have that experience [in India]... it’s not totally new and daunting coming out to play Test cricket over here.
“I think I’ll be able to look back and take some stuff from that, just sort of how to level emotions out and not get too caught up in it, five days is a long time to be up so just trying to manage that.”
The third Test between Australia and England will begin on Thursday, July 6th at Headingley.
