Nathan Lyon is quickly becoming a spinner Australia can now rely on to not only tie down an end, but take wickets.
The huge void in Australia’s bowling ranks left by Shane Warne is finally being filled. The constant rotation by the selectors trying to find the ideal spinner has stopped.
It is hard to believe Lyon will have played over 50 Tests by the end of the summer and has already passed the milestone of becoming Australia’s greatest wicket-taking off spinner. It is not inconceivable that he will be up there with Brett Lee, Mitch Johnson and Dennis Lillee at the end of his career in terms of wickets taken.
The story of Lyon’s early years was ran on Channel 9 during the Brisbane Test and dug deeper into his humble upbringing. The boy from Young who grew up watching Shane Warne had dreams of becoming a groundsman like his father. He couldn’t have in his wildest dreams believed he would one day be the man to shoulder Australia’s spinning duties.
These days he would be one of the first picked in the Australian squad. With his bowling comes a more than adequate close in fielder and a batsman much more capable than the number 11 role he insists on playing.
It is a far cry from the early days when messrs Nathan Hauritz, Beau Casson, Dan Cullen, Xavier Doherty, Jason Krejza and Michael Beer were all lurking, ready to pounce on another opportunity to fill the seemingly irreparable dearth of Australian spin bowlers.
Nowadays he’s the guy Australian captains throw the ball to when there is need of a wicket. He is also starting to master the art of looking like the guy who will take a wicket at any moment rather than the long list of off spinners to travel to Australia and get pummelled into submission.
To master the art of spin on Australia’s contrasting pitches seemes to be the catalyst to the makings of a great tweaker. From the pace and bounce of the ‘Gabba and WACA to the ever growing blandness of the drop in pitches, the spinners have to learn different techniques in the art of dismissing a batsman and Lyon is showing maturity akin to that of his hairline.
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