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If anything can be said of Darren Lehmann since he ascended to his current role of Australia’s coach it is that he seems to be getting the best out of his players.
A team that had forgotten how to win with selection policies seemingly conjured from little logical thought has been turned on its head to the rampant, settled outfit currently in operation.
Simple plans delivered in obvious ways will more often than not trump overblown and convoluted theories and it to Lehmann’s credit that he has overseen such a transformation in a relatively short period of time.
The opening partnership complement each other, the middle order’s output has risen significantly, the best wicket-keeper is in the side and the trio of seam bowlers are at the peak of their powers.
There is one area, however, where there is significant room for improvement and this is in the spinning department.
Now before you leap all over this statement as being absolute nonsense, hear me out.
Nathan Lyon’s record is none too shabby, he did a fine job in the Ashes and at Centurion last week and he is providing a fine foil, both defensively and at times attacking, to his quicker bowling cousins.
Yet his default setting of bowling around the wicket does him no favours at all.
In fact, it is limiting how effective he could be and doesn’t play to the ability he obviously possesses.
It may be that is merely bowling to orders by holding up one end while the seamers can be rotated and if that is the case he’s holding his own.
On the other hand, it just may be that he isn’t particularly comfortable by using the traditional angle of attack and that by going around he is punching above his weight so to speak.
To get a bit technical, it is far easier to get through your action by coming at a sharper angle to the crease which is generally the case when using the less favoured side of the wicket.
A number of off-spinners, and the same can be said for left-armers bowling to right-handers, prefer the line Lyon uses because it is often easier to maintain a consistency in your action and drive through the crease and over the front leg.
Having seen enough of Lyon in action, I don’t think altering would be too big a difficulty as his action looks well grooved and adaptable.
Perhaps, as he isn’t the biggest spinner of the ball, he feels that he stands a better chance of taking wickets via catches at short-leg and midwicket, dismissals that are encouraged by the line he is coming from and the overspin and subsequent bounce he generates.
The main problem with this is that, unless the pitch is offering some decent assistance, he is almost ruling out bowled and lbw to the right-hander.
I won’t go as far as to say that it is overly defensive because he is still trying to get people out, and having some success, but a more orthodox approach could certainly make him more potent.
All manner of potential dismissals are brought into the equation and in simple terms it is a more profitable line of attack.
It seems a strange anomaly when for all of the aggressive intent Michael Clarke employs, he goes in the opposite direction with Lyon.
Wide of the mark this may be and around the wicket could be just what Lyon does yet while he is never going to carve his way through the batting line-ups he faces, he could produce much more.
So come on Nathan, you’re better than that.