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.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Some offspinners like to bowl around the wicket because it increases their sense of hip rotation -- I'm not sure if it helps to impart more spin, but they certainly feel like they are "in the groove" if they are delivering from behind their left hip and bringing their follow-through across their body and in front of the left hip.
ches
Guest
Lyon has a good technique but lacks the killler instict of someone like shane Warne. xJust like Joe Bugner could not finish Ali. He is the best we got so we gotta run with it for a while. Look out Nathan because when Muirhead and Boyce get their "smarts" you are gone. They are both nowhere ready but soon
Nudge
Guest
Maybe 500 test wickets
Alec Swann
Expert
Ronan, there will have been good reasons and it's hard to argue with the results. Clarke sets good enough fields that Lyon could quite easily switch without his economy rate shooting up (still able to take wickets while forcing the batsmen to hit to the leg-side) which, in part, will have been a consideration in his switching to around the wicket.
Alec Swann
Expert
Rob, it isn't necessarily relevant and you're right in that it might not bring him more success. At the moment, though, there is no variety which is never a problem when it's working.
Gav
Guest
That's the point here! His world class now.......look at his rate of improvement from India to now.......then consider his age! I don't doubt he will continue to develop and bowling over the wicket will be part of that......all in good time and in recognition of the situation. If memory serves Warne didn't start bowling around the wicket till a bit later in his career. Very excited about what The Lyon has to offer us now and over the next 5-10 yrs!
Axle an the guru
Guest
-- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Axle an the guru
Guest
Reply< sorry for not addresing you Pom In Oz in that reply -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Axle an the guru
Guest
There was a few that called him boring to watch, i remember saying that boring was no reason to drop him it was the usual rubbish compairing him to Warne, like i said tho not all Roarers. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Pom in Oz
Roar Guru
That's a strange comment, Axle. I don't recall any Roarers advocating the replacement of Lyon, for any other spinner, since the successful Ashes campaign...
DCNZ
Guest
He has that little kick in his step now yarh, no idea if it improves his bowling, but he looks more confident for sre.
Axle an the guru
Guest
How things can turn around, before the start of this series a lot of you ( not all of you) had every spin bowler in the country ready to take Lyons test spot, its amazeing what two tests can do. -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
I think most people underestimate just how inexperienced Lyon is...he only debuted at first-class level three years ago. How many spinners in history have boasted 106 Test wickets merely three years after playing State cricket for the first time? Take Ajmal and Swann as examples, they were six and three years older than Lyon is now when they made their Test debuts.
Buk
Guest
"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." I favour that statement, though I think it is because Lyon is probing for a batsman's non-comfort zone, not his own comfort. Sideways drift for an off-spinner such as Lyon should be accentuated by bowling round the wicket, so I would argue for switching to round the wicket if a batsman is using his feet to get to the pitch of the ball to negate turn off the pitch. Bowling around or over may therefore depend more on what the batsman is actually doing, or is not comfortable with. It could be equally argued that Lyon appears (I'd be interested to see a proper analysis of it via computer technology) to use a bit more simultaneous top spin with side spin, plus a (relatively) high ball release. So less sideways movement, but more dip. I am not sure which side (round or over) is better suited to dip.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Hi Alec, Lyon adopted this around the wicket line to right handers in India last year on the advice of Aussie spin coach John Davison. It was done, in part, to actually increase his chances of bowling or trapping batsmen in front on those turning decks. He had resounding success taking 9 wickets in his next outing at Delhi, 8 of which were LBW or bowled, including both Kohli and Tendulkar LBW in both digs. He clearly drew a lot of confidence out of this success from that angle of attack and continued it through the back to back Ashes to now. I would love to see him switch between the two angles throughout Tests rather than relying on one. He has been working with Davison on his bowling over the wicket and reportedly had success from that angle in Australia's intra-squad centre wicket warm ups.
Dalgety Carrington
Guest
He has some pretty good coaches working with him at the moment, and I hear one of the things they are working on behind the scenes is to improve his effectiveness when bowling over the wicket. So it might be something you see him do more as his development comes along.
Another Pom in Oz
Guest
The way his right knee jerks out he'd probably hit the stumps with it going over the wicket. He looks like he's doing the highland fling...
TheTruth
Guest
Agree wholeheartedly! I don't mind if Lyon's stock ball is from round the wicket but he still needs to use the other side of the pitch. This is especially true if he is getting some drift in the air. Also do not think Lyon should be in the odi or t20 teams just at the moment, as those formats tend to encourage a quicker ball and flatter trajectory as a form of run saving rather than wicket taking. For mine, he has cemented his spot in the test team as a permenant fixture, give him a couple of years solid in that security, then we can look at odi's and t20
Armchair expert
Guest
Fair point about bowling over the wicket being more attacking Alex but with the recent success he's had he would be reluctant to change, and as you suggested, he's probably following instructions to a tee.
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
I don't disagree, but I have to ask why it is relevant to bring as many modes of dismissal into play as possible. It might sound like it is automatically going to make you get more wickets (if there are a greater variety of ways in which they can be taken), but that's only true if the chances of bowled and LBW go up by so much as to make up for the reduction in probability of getting catches on the onside. I think Lyon should bowl over the wicket more, but I certainly don't assume that doing so would guarantee more success.