He’s a funny-looking bloke, the kind that can be easily caricatured for a newspaper. I am not having a go at Nathan Lyon, his looks are underrated – and so are his skills as a bowler.
Granted he’s no Muttiah Muralitharan, the ‘Offy Messiah’, but he’s certainly someone who can make the English red in the face throughout the Ashes.
There’s something hypnotic about watching Lyon begin with a saunter, fiddle the ball with his tongue poking out, launch himself in the air and deliver a ball with plenty of flight and spin from an explosive arm.
Lyon’s right gun has notched up 155 wickets, making him the leading wicket taker for an off-spinner in Australian Test history – and he is only 27.
So far in the Investec Ashes Series, Lyon is on a total of 9 wickets. Both of his second innings spells have been his most fruitful, when spin rides into town.
During the second innings in Cardiff, Lyon ended up with 4/75, being a tad expensive, but it’s certainly nothing to sneeze at. While he troubled the English on the fourth day at Lord’s, picking up the vital wickets of Ian Bell and top-scorer Stuart Broad to finish with 2/27.
His Ashes 2015 bowling figures tell a positive story about his campaign so far on two ordinary pitches, a far cry from his last slog at the English in 2013 when he was eventually dropped twice.
Like any good bowler, Lyon makes the best out of any pitch and understands the complex subtleties and the moods they can get in – maybe something he learned during his days as a groundsman at the Adelaide Oval.
Damien Fleming recently praised Lyon’s bowling in an article he wrote for The Independent, where he said Lyon came around the wicket and cramped Buttler within the corridor of uncertainty with a ball that didn’t spin, rather than bowling wider and fishing for the edge. The result being that Buttler attempted to block the ball and instead feathered it to Nevill.
Darren Lehmann expects the slow pitches to continue, with the possible exception of Edgbaston, which has been quicker than most in England over the past two years.
If that’s the case, the wickets should keep coming in for Lyon, who is eager to wield the tired ball and hound the English batsman, particularly their left-handers Alastair Cook, Adam Lyth and Ben Stokes.
The third Ashes Test begins next Wednesday at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
With the series all tied up at 1-1, the Australians should be able to keep their hands on the Ashes from here.
My two predictions: Australia will win 3-1, and the funny-looking bloke will end up with 25 wickets – something the Poms won’t laugh at.
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