Nathan Lyon is owed an apology on numerous levels.
Nathan Lyon is owed an apology for the expectations Australians hold against spinners ever since the beginning of the ‘after Shane Warne’ (ASW) era.
Nathan Lyon is owed an apology for being mistaken for 45-year-old man when in fact he’s 25!
Nathan Lyon is owed an apology for the mistreatment he has received from the Australian selectors.
Nathan Lyon is owed an apology by his teammates who are constantly dropping catches and missing stumpings off his bowling.
Nathan Lyon is now also owed an apology by the Australian batsmen after yet another collapse that saw the team go from being in a winning position to another Ashes Test loss.
But most of all, Nathan Lyon is owed an apology by you, the Australian public.
Australian cricket enjoyed a fantastic period of success in which our spin bowling was of the highest calibre, with the two names of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill standing out.
Warne had the fantastic record of 708 Test wickets at an average of 25.41, while MacGill took 208 wickets at a very good 29.02.
Ever since these two have finished their careers Australia has been looking for the next Warne or MacGill. We’ve seen names like Casson, White, Krejza, McGain, Smith, Doherty, Hauritz, Beer, Lyon, Maxwell and Agar all thrown the baggy green.
Hauritz and Lyon are the only ones who have really been given extended opportunities. In saying this, they’ve also experienced mistreatment by selectors by being in for one Test and then out the next.
Lyon entered the Test arena very much as an unknown quantity in July 2011. He made his Test match debut against Sri Lanka in Galle, taking 5/34 including the vital wicket of Kumar Sangakkara.
It looked like Australia had finally found a spinner who would lead them for years to come.
During his early career he continued to show the promise and guile required to succeed on the international level by making respectable contributions to a rebuilding Australian team.
Lyon has certainly gained the confidence and respect of his teammates, shown by the fact Mike Hussey handed over the great honour of leading the Australian team in the victory song after Test victories.
Since then Lyon has experienced a fluctuation in fortunes. He has yet again become a victim of the ‘ASW’ era selection criteria of chopping and changing, with the most recent example being on the India tour where he was replaced after one Test for Xavier Doherty and Glenn Maxwell, only to be recalled for the third Test.
In the last Test of that series he managed to take nine wickets for the match, including a first innings haul of seven wickets.
It looked like he had responded to criticism on his action and technique from then coach Mickey Arthur, and appeared in a position to secure his spot for the upcoming double Ashes series.
However, come the first Test of the English leg of the series, he again found himself being replaced, this time by 19-year-old debutant Ashton Agar.
Agar’s debut will certainly be fondly remembered after making a fantastic 98 batting at number eleven when Australia was in all sorts of trouble in its first innings.
He basically held his spot for the next Test as a result of that fantastic innings, but soon become a victim of the ASW era himself!
Having bowled without much penetration, though he was hampered by a hip complaint, it was Agar’s turn to be dropped for the returning Lyon.
Lyon then once again found himself up for criticism after his performance in the third Test after Australia found themselves in a great position to win before rain ensured very little play was possible on the last day.
He was granted a reprieve and was selected for the fourth Test, mainly thanks to not getting his chance to bowl Australia to the Test win that all of the cricketing public had been waiting for.
The fourth Test has once again seen Lyon’s ability to respond to the criticism that is continually being levelled at him.
In this game, Kevin Pietersen made it his number one priority to target Lyon, attempting to never let the spinner settle by attacking him with his footwork and stroke play.
Lyon responded at Durham by removing the aggressive South African-turned-Englishmen in both innings.
The first innings saw a Lyon-led attack restrict England to a modest 238 on what was considered a very good batting wicket. He found great success by coming around the wicket to the right-handers and was well rewarded with four first innings wickets.
Lyon backed up this performance with a solid three wicket return in the second innings, providing the only real support to the Ryan Harris’ Herculean second innings performance.
It was two of the most honest cricketers in the Australian team taking sixteen of the twenty wickets for the Test and providing Australia with a genuine chance, which in the end our batsmen squandered.
This doesn’t take away from the fact the Australian public now needs to get behind Nathan Lyon. The South Australian has shown over the last 18 months he is the best spinner in Australia.
It’s high time the Australian public stopped making him the ‘escape goat’ whenever the Australian Cricket team comes up short… again.
If there were ten other blokes who put in as much effort and enthusiasm when they pulled on the baggy green, Australian Cricket would be in a much better place than it is right now.
So come on Australia, repeat after me… Nathan Lyon, Australia is sorry!
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