Australian legend believes Nathan Lyon holds the key to Ashes victory

Anticipation has reached fever pitch as the newly crowned World Test champions take on a resurgent England in the opening Ashes Test in Edgbaston on Friday.

The war of words in the build-up has included some strong statements from England batter Harry Brook about Lyon, claiming he will "take him on", but Langer is having none of it.

"You hear 'they are just going to smash Nathan Lyon,'" Langer told The Telegraph.

"But, I was watching this week and Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli [failed]. And I'm going, it's not that easy to do. I think he could be the difference in the series."

Last week, Langer looked on as Lyon racked up tidy match figures of 5/60 to help the Baggy Greens claim the Test mace in the final against India.

Meanwhile, over in the England camp, the powers that be sent out an SOS to the recently retired Moeen Ali. The all-rounder answered the call and has since been named in the starting XI. Ali has proved valuable with the bat, but Langer is confident he won't shine with the ball.

"England don't have a world-class spinner," continued the former opening bat.

"That's no disrespect to Moeen. He's a good offie, but he's not Nathan Lyon. I never realised until I started coaching Australia how good a bowler Nathan Lyon is. He's a very, very good bowler. Hard to get away, and incredibly important to Australia.

"Not only does he take wickets, but he bowls a lot of overs and traditionally holds up one end."

In 2019 - the last time the Ashes circus rolled into Birmingham - Lyon delivered a match-winning performance. The tweaker picked up nine wickets, including a 6/49 in the fourth innings to wrap up a comprehensive victory for Australia.