Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon reflected on his team's urn-retaining effort in England and revealed how a conversation with Steve Waugh helped him feel better after letting slip a clear-cut opportunity to win the epic Headingley Test.

The 2019 Ashes was one of the most dramatic Test series in recent times. It finished with England securing a comfortable win in the final Test, but not before Australia had retained the urn with a 'nerve-wracking' win in the previous Test in Manchester.

Having bossed most of the game, Australia always looked favourites to win by a big margin. However, a steely rearguard from the England lower order took the game into the last hour. When Josh Hazlewood finally trapped Craig Overton leg-before to secure a 185-run win, Australia heaved a collective sigh of relief as they succeeded in taking the urn back home from England for the first time since 2001.

Australia look on in nervous anticipation after Craig Overton calls for a review at Old Trafford

Lyon said the wait for the final decision after Overton's review of the on-field call was especially tense.

"It was one of the most nerve-wracking things I've been involved in, even though we knew it was out," Lyon recalled to cricket.com.au. "I just remember that everyone was looking at the screen behind me, and I was facing the other way. As soon as it went red, if you look at the photos I've got Travis Head in my arms before he knew what was happening.

"It is one of the biggest highlights of my career, when we were able to stand up there as a team and lift up the urn at The Oval (after the final Test)."

Australia's nervousness at Old Trafford must have stemmed from the drama that unfolded in the previous game at Leeds, when a magical Ben Stokes century earned England an improbable one-wicket win.

Lyon had a last-gasp opportunity to quell England's resurgence in the form of a clear cut run-out opportunity to dismiss Jack Leach at the non-striker's end, which the bowler fumbled. Lyon could yet have redeemed himself the very next ball when he hit Stokes on the pads but was turned down by the on-field umpire. Ball-tracking later showed that the ball was heading straight for the stumps but Australia had burned up their reviews. The events left Lyon feeling deflated but a text from Steve Waugh lifted his spirits.

"Steve Waugh sent me a message straight after. He just said 'Oh well, think about the positive – you're going to make a lot of money doing speaking gigs when you finish playing, you can put so much mayo on that story'.

Waugh helped Lyon recover from the disappointment of letting go of an opportunity to secure a tense victory at Headingley

"He found a way to break the ice, and made me look at it in a different way. It was one of those things. I could have been the quickest Australian sportsperson to go from villain to hero – in the space of about 3.2 seconds, which is about the time it took from me dropping the run-out to hitting Stokesy on the pad in front of middle stump.

"But that's cricket, isn't it."