In the 26 Tests that Nathan Lyon has played, he received the greatest criticism 12 months ago after he failed to win a Test match for Australia on a fifth day Adelaide Oval track with an abundance of runs to play with.
Since that moment Lyon has had a tough campaign in India, tweaked his action slightly and featured in an Ashes Test win. More importantly, he has learnt the modern art of bowling consistently around the wicket to right hand batsmen.
The first time Lyon bowled consistently from around the wicket to the right handers was in the fourth Test in Delhi on a rank turner. Lyon finished on a losing side with match figures of 9/165, his career-best figures to date.
Before the Delhi Test, Lyon had 67 wickets at 35.17, but since that match he has bowled consistently around the wicket and has had great success. Including the Delhi Test, Lyon’s figures from his past five Tests are 22 wickets at 24.13.
If we dive further into the statistics, it reveals how successful the around the wicket tactic has been against top order right hand batsmen.
Before the Delhi Test match, Lyon had dismissed 48 right hand batsmen out, of which 26 were tail-enders – that is over 50 percent of his wickets.
In his next five Tests, 16 out of 18 right handed dismissals are top order batsmen (1 -7), and 14 of those wickets are from bowling around the wicket.
Bowling around the wicket enables Lyon to pitch the ball on the stumps and straighten in down the line or continue with the angle. This increases chances of LBW if the ball turns or the batsmen plays down the line, and also increases the chances of batsmen edging it to the keeper or slip.
Naturally, bowling around the wicket has also impacted the mode of dismissals, most significantly leg before wicket. In the first 21 Tests of his career, Lyon had five LBW dismissals to right hand batsmen. He has already eclipsed that mark by two since that Test match in Delhi.
The Adelaide Oval pitch might not be as rank a turner as the one in Delhi but as Lyon showed in Brisbane and in England, the around the wicket tactic can bring success with the right field.
Lyon might have missed a trick 12 months ago, but he has another dimension that could help him bowl his team to a victory on the second innings this time around.
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