Australian Test spinner Nathan Lyon says young left-arm orthodox spinner Ashton Agar and Pakistani refugee Fawad Ahmed are his two tips to get a late call up into the Ashes squad if selectors decide to add a second specialist spinner.
Just 16 players have been selected for the Ashes series in England throughout July and August.
However with Lyon the only specialist spinner in the smaller-than-usual squad, it has raised questions on whether selectors are waiting for a later bolter to emerge from the spinner’s pack.
Lyon on Wednesday told reporters that if selectors were to add another specialist spinner to bring the squad up to 17, his guess would be 19-year-old Agar.
West Australian Agar was overlooked for the squad despite taking 22 wickets in six matches for the Warriors at an average of 29.40 in his debut Sheffield Shield season.
“(Agar’s) very talented and he’s bowling quite well and he’s over in England at the moment,” Lyon said.
However Lyon’s other tip, 31-year-old leg-spinner Ahmed, is currently training with the Ashes squad in Brisbane every Monday and Tuesday, but is still waiting to see if he can get his Australian citizenship fast tracked.
“I’ve only really known Fawad for the last twelve months and he’s an exceptional bowler,” Lyon said.
“He’s very talented and he’s working as hard as everyone is up in Brissie but it’s up to the selectors.”
Lyon said he didn’t feel any extra pressure being the only specialist spinner currently in the squad.
“There’s always pressure playing for Australia full stop,” Lyon said.
“I’ve spoken to (captain Michael Clarke) up in Brissie and what his expectations of me are in the side.
“So if I do my role well hopefully I’ll keep my spot.”
However the 25-year-old admits he was fortunate to snare nine wickets in the fourth Test against India in March to hold his place in the squad in what was a series clean sweep for their opponents.
“It was an extremely tough tour for all the players over there,” he said.
“Having said that we’ve learnt and we saw that from the first Test to the last.
“Personally I grew a lot.”
Lyon is making the move from Adelaide to Sydney on Friday to join the NSW cricket side.
It was a big blow for South Australia Cricket, who were the primary driver behind turning the former Adelaide Oval groundskeeper into the 22-Test player he is today.
However Lyon said the decision to leave the Redbacks for the state where he was born was a family based decision and not a cricketing one.
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