Ten months ago, Australian spinner Nathan Lyon’s was clinging to his Test spot after once again struggling in foreign conditions, this time against Pakistan in the UAE.
While Pakistan’s rookie tweakers Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar ran amok on dry decks, Lyon was completely toothless. Most of the Pakistan batsmen treated him with disdain and he finished the series with the horrific figures of 3-422.
The offie bowled too straight, allowing the Pakistan batsmen to sweep with ease or work him through the leg side for ones and twos. Lyon also failed to vary both his pace and his angles on the crease in the manner which proved so successful for Zulfiqar.
Off spin is a subtle art. Rarely will its practitioners turn the ball square and befuddle batsmen like leg spinners often can. For an offie, accuracy is crucial. But it’s the aforementioned subtle variations that are the key to undo quality Test batsmen.
Against Pakistan he seemed to be bowling the same ball over and over again. His opponents were able to safely predict his trajectory and direction, and so they confidently pre-meditated strokes, either getting down on one knee or opening their body up to loft the ball over the legside.
It continued Lyon’s trend of battling for impact outside of the bouncy Australian decks. This seemed an unlikely problem when he took six wickets on Test debut in Sri Lanka.
Yet, from that Test up until the start of this Ashes series, he took 60 wickets at the lofty average of 40 away from home. Australia famously struggle on the road and to rectify that they desperately need their spinner to flourish in foreign conditions.
That is why there was a sense after the debacle against Pakistan that Lyon’s position was tenuous. In the opening Test of last summer, he promptly put paid to the other concern about his bowling – an inability to lead Australia to victory in the fourth innings.
In taking 12 wickets in a rousing victory over India at Adelaide, Lyon went a long way to banishing that hoodoo. It was a key moment in his career and seems to have significantly boosted his confidence.
Since the start of last summer, Lyon has taken 47 wickets from 11 Tests at the impressive average of 29.93. This Ashes series has been a second major breakthrough for Lyon as his first standout series overseas.
He clearly was the second best bowler in this series behind only English paceman Stuart Broad, who was phenomenal. Entering this Ashes Lyon rarely was mentioned, with all the focus on Australia’s much-vaunted pace attack.
Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were expected to cause major problems for the English batsmen. Harris retired, Johnson struggled, and Starc and Hazlewood were left to shoulder unexpected responsibility with mixed results.
Among all this, Lyon did his job impeccably. In the lead up to the series, many English pundits and commentators spoke of Lyon as a fairly limited spinner who England would look to target.
This was justifiable given the way he had underperformed on foreign soil. By the end of the series, they were roundly complimenting him and noting his considerable development.
It is easy to forget how young and inexperienced Lyon is. He made his first-class debut only four-and-a-half years ago.
Consider this: the two best Test spinners of the past 6-7 years, England’s Graeme Swann and Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal, were 29 years old and 31 years old respectively when they made their Test debuts. At just 27 years old, Lyon is still a pup in spin terms and may well be 3-4 years away from reaching his peak.
After the best bowler in Test history Shane Warne retired in 2007, Australia spent years searching for another match winning spinner. They churned through tweaker after tweaker, swiftly ditching each after it became apparent they wouldn’t win Tests off their own back.
Lyon has been the recipient of far greater patience than his predecessors and that now is paying off for Australia. He doesn’t turn games on their head like Warne did, but he plays his part and makes his pace teammates more effective.
Had the Aussie quicks bowled as well as Lyon in this series, the visitors would have romped it in. For all the hype over the Australian pacemen, it was the unassuming offie who shone.
Heading into what shapes as a tricky series in Bangladesh, Lyon now will be the main man. This Ashes may well prove to be the making of the former groundsman.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Cheers AE, Lyon has definitely improved his efforts in the Shield and it is great that he's actually got to play a bit with NSW the past two seasons not just for his own development but also to expose State batsman to a world-class spinner.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
It was good to see this series that Lyon bowled mostly over the wicket to the right handers after having developed a habit of bowling largely around the wicket. The around the wicket line is a great variation for him to have but it should be used as just that rather than as a stock approach.
Ian
Roar Pro
Geoff Boycott said in commentary yesterday is that he needed to use more variation or should have changed the angle, bowled around the wicket and tossed it up more to tempt the batsmen.
Gav
Guest
I'd also say that both Warne and Lyon thrive on bounce.....not much of that in the sub continent.
Danno1
Guest
I think Lyon is developing well, and it is great to see him bowl, my only complaint is he doesn't seem to have an arm ball, he bowls big off spinners and less big off spinners, faster and slower, balls but none that seem to go straight on with the arm. Once he masters that he will run amok.
TheCunningLinguistic
Guest
He's no SOK....... And that's only a tiny bit tongue in cheek!
Ian
Roar Pro
It is no accident that he has the responsibility for leading the singing of the team song
Danno74
Guest
II thought Lyon was very good this series considering her never got to bowl on a 4th or 5th day wicket. He kept it tight and troubled most batsman.
bert
Guest
Good effort by Lyon he continues to improve. But what happened to that new mystery ball he was talking up at the start of the series I'd love to see one of our young Leggies-Zampa or Boyce become world class. The fast bowling depth is there just need to improve slow bowling depth
Matt from Armidale
Guest
What gets me about Lyon is how he's improving all the time. If you watch his bowling speeds now you won't find two balls the same. His lines are getting more creative, he's getting more accurate and you can see him setting traps for batsmen and working them over. Even his batting is getting better, there were some textbook drives during the Ashes. If he keeps going like this then by the time he's a 'normal' age for an offie he'll be an absolute legend with his best years still ahead of him.
Armchair Expert
Guest
Good article and I'll also add Lyon has also improved his shield record, he averaged 54 with the ball in 2 or 3 seasons with South Australia, he averaged 35 in his 1st season with NSW and late 20s last season for NSW.
Michael Mills
Guest
Hopefully as his experience and confidence grows, he will become more comfortable bowling over the wicket to right handers. Agree that he has to get better in the subcontinent and middle east (while Pakistan still play there). He's bowled too straight in the past, allowing the opposition batsmen to work him off their pads and sweep with too much ease. He'll learn.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I think Vettori is a very good comparison. He also started very young and has always been well respected despite only having a mid-30's average. I think having Shane Warne for so many years, with Stuart MacGill in the wings has really caused a big part of the issue of expectations in Australia. If you look at the spinners around pre-Warne, Lyon would have walked into any Australian team just about since Richie Benaud's time. But now we all want miracle working spinners who can single-handedly turn matches. Lyon definitely has to improve in sub-continental conditions. He needs to bowl differently there than he does in Australia, and hasn't always done well. It must be noted though, that when comparing him to the oppositions spinners in those situations that he's bowling to players who feel at home playing spin bowlers in those conditions, while they are bowling to players who aren't so comfortable playing spin in those conditions. So they've got a significant advantage over him. An easy example of that is that Warne never had a very good record in India. Sure the pitches probably suited spin, but the opposition consisted of players who revel in those conditions.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Nevill is definitely a certainty to play the Bangladesh tour and the next summer in Australia. However, he's still got to make it stick. A poor home summer combined with the some of his competitors having good shield seasons would put the pressure on him. However, if he's able to come out and score some good runs while remaining solid behind the stumps then he'll be able to secure the spot for some time to come.
Aransan
Guest
We have seen how the inclusion of a bowler in Siddle capable of bowling long accurate spells has made a significant impact for the better for our team. We tend to forget that Lyon is also used in a similar way. When a bowler is frequently asked to bowl to restrict the batting when conditions are not ideal for taking wickets, this will make their statistics look worse than they really are. McGrath and Warne were good and great bowlers but we tend to forget that they were also used similarly as well as building up pressure and giving opportunities for wickets at the other end of the pitch.
Twashie
Roar Rookie
I feel that Nathan Lyon has done an incredible job of doing the job that his captain has asked of him. Early in his career he seemed to rush through his over to be tight and give more time for the quick bowlers at the other end. Even last night that seemed to be the case, with the rain approaching he seemed to be rushing through his overs to give Johnson 1 more over
Nudge
Guest
It does make a mockery of so many people on here calling him a below average spinner. They seam to have gone missing. He's even got a better average than Vettori and we know he is held in very high regard. Also you could factor in that Wade missed at least 10 simple chances off Lyon while he was keeper, and also that Mitchell Johnson has been a demon at finishing off the tail the last 2 years meaning Lyon hasn't had the chance, to take cheap wickets, which are bread and butter for decent spinners. It's possible when you factor in both of these his average could be around the very low 30 mark. If no one better comes along there is a very good chance that he could end up with around 500 test wickets with an average in the high 20's, which ain't too bad for a dud.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I would think that in the medium term Nevill is secure in the side - we don't change keepers willy-nilly.
Arthur Pagonis
Roar Guru
Mark Taylor said of Steve Smith, "Get ready mate, here come the grey hairs.". Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers can add colours to theirs. They were/are fantastic guys, salt of the earth cricketers of the Australian variety…like hundreds before them. The ECB finale for both was magnificent, and they were magnificent in their remarks to questions. Many thanks to Andrew Strauss and Gemma Ward for the send-off. It touched my heart. It reveals to cricketers everywhere that the strain, pain and pure athletic fun of cricket keeps the older and younger guys fit, healthy and wealthy...and wise….and that is the message it needs to send to young people. Cricket is NOT an elite sport. It is for the people. It is a great builder of character and has many great characters in it. I hope the ECB, BCCI and CA come to realise this. Cricket must be expansionist and inclusive of boys, girls, men, women…everywhere. There are 100 countries with boys and girls like Michael and Buck just waiting to get involved. They don’t need hubris and furore at the top. They need jobs in cricket to feed into! That means a World Cricket League and national Leagues in 3 forms of the game. They are great Aussies, Chris and Michael. They have tried with every sinew in their bodies to be great for Australia to win every game they played, which is why they won the final Test yesterday. And so they went out with a big smile and a weight like a piano off their backs. And we must honour them as heroes. They won't be lost to cricket, Australian Cricket or any kind of cricket. They will be back for us to see on the Big Screen some time real soon. Thanks for everything fellas. You have that true Aussie spirit and have been a living example of it right throughout. ARTHUR PAGONIS MANAGING DIRECTOR AUSTRALIA GLOBAL TRADING PTY LTD 10 HERTZ WAY, MORLEY, W.A. 6062 AUSTRALIA PH. 61.8.9377 3833, FAX 61.8.93773877, MOBILE 61. 409918874 SKYPE: apagonis2 WEB: www.ausglobaltrading.com
Michael Mills
Guest
Dan Brettig wrote a really good article for Cricinfo about Lyon's development under Clarke's captaincy. It mentioned Lyon's position in the history of off-spin bowlers. "Several months ago in the West Indies, Lyon became Australia's most prolific offspinner. With his wickets at The Oval, Lyon has climbed into the top 10 offspin bowlers in the history of the game. Of those, only Muttiah Muralitharan, Graeme Swann and Jim Laker have bettered Lyon's strike rate. By any measure, it is quite a feat." The article is well worth a read: http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2015/content/story/912595.html Lyon is averaging a wicket every 11 overs and 34 runs. These are pretty good figures for a spinner in the modern era considering all the factors that favour today's batsmen. This is even more impressive when you consider that he's had to learn his craft in Test cricket. As Ronan mentioned, he still has a few years before he hits the typical age that spin bowlers reach their peak. He'll probably have 200 Test wickets and close to 70 Test caps by that time. It's exciting to think what he could become.