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If you have ever lived next to a house with a dog that constantly barks, you would know that while it never stops being annoying you learn to phase it out.
When the barking finally stops, it can take a moment for the silence to sink in.
As I read about the Ashes this morning, drinking a coffee at my laptop, I paused and cocked my head. The barking had stopped and it had been quiet for a while now.
In the excitement of this series, the ceasing of the media’s constant yapping about Australian spin bowling had taken me by surprise.
And the beautiful thing is that the person responsible didn’t have to come up with some amazing trick, or wiz-bang shock to make it happen. It was done through a long application of patience and skill.
Nathan Lyon has simply taught the dog that if it stops barking it will be rewarded. This is not an easy thing to do.
It happened so gradually that it has taken a while for me to realise but I think, knock on wood, as a cricketing nation Australia has turned a corner.
Nathan Lyon is not the next Shane Warne; he is something better.
He’s a decent, reliable, skilful, team player. He is one who throughout all aspects of his professional career has set an example we should all admire.
Faced with pressure and adversity, while standing in one of the biggest shadows cast in cricket history, he has handled himself with true dignity.
No one can be taught to bowl like Shane Warne, but people can be taught to act like Nathan Lyon.
While Australian cricketers barked like dogs on the field and fans barked like dogs in the stands we thought we needed a new Shane Warne, Nathan Lyon showed us we were wrong.
And while there is peace and quiet now, once their owner is away barking dogs don’t stay silent long. So I am forever grateful to Nathan Lyon for showing Australia a new way to teach barking dogs how to behave.
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