It took just two balls for Nathan Lyon to make an impact.
Called upon in the eighth over, with South Africa 0/27, Lyon pounced immediately.
Aiden Markram had started nicely, the dangerous Dean Elgar remained and despite a healthy Australian total of 351, the class of the South African middle order looked ominous.
On his second ball, Lyon found a leading edge, removing Elgar for seven with a nice catch off his own bowling. Hashim Amla arrived at the crease, and Lyon had him too; off the fifth ball, an inside edge onto his pad, caught by Cameron Bancroft at short-leg.
In one pivotal over, he had removed two batsmen with a combined career average of 91, and from that point on it was Australia’s day.
AB De Villiers played a lone hand; a classy and assured 71 not out, but his teammates came and went, one by one by one.
He may have only taken one wicket after his first over, but it was Lyon who pushed the first domino, playing a crucial role in restricting the Proteas to 162.
The former ground curator, whose first class and Test debuts were separated by just seven months, is now undoubtedly among the world’s elite cricketers.
His rise has been remarkable. Called upon to debut in Galle, Sri Lanka in 2011, he removed Kumar Sangakkara with his first ball, ending with figures of 5/34.
Just four years later, Lyon had become Australia’s most successful Test off-spinner, and the long search for a Test quality spinner following Shane Warne’s retirement had ended.
He now sits 10th in the ICC Test bowler rankings, and coming into the first Test had 290 Test wickets at an average of 31.49, 162 of which have come against England, India, or South Africa.
So where does the man dubbed jovially as ‘the GOAT’ sit among Test crickets all-time greatest spinners?
He’s currently the 34th highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, and at the age of 30, he still has plenty of years to climb this list. When the list is narrowed to spinners, just nine men sit above him; nine outstanding cricketers.
The top three on this list are all virtually uncatchable; no current bowler will match Muttiah Muralitharan (800 wickets), Warne (708), or Anil Kumble (619).
But beneath the top bracket of spinners lie a number of players whom Lyon can realistically match. Harbhajan Singh sits fourth, 124 scalps ahead of the Australian.
While 124 wickets won’t come easily, they are not beyond the realms of possibility. Lyon took 63 Test wickets in 2017 alone; the most by any player.
Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (415 wickets), and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin (311) are the only current players ahead of Lyon, with Herath likely to push ahead of Singh and claim the fourth position.
This leaves Daniel Vettori (362), Lance Gibbs (309), and Derek Underwood (297) as players Lyon will in all likelihood eclipse, given they will never add to their tallies.
(AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
So statistically, Lyon could quite conceivably end his career comfortably in the second bracket of spinners beneath Muralitharan, Warne, and Kumble, but all cricket fans know that a player’s legacy is judged by more than just numbers.
People remember players for the way they played the game, with Ricky Ponting’s iconic hook and pull shots more memorable than his average of 51.85. Lyon too will be remembered for more than just his statistics.
The off-spinner is loved by teammates and the public alike and has the responsibility of leading the famous team song – recognition of his display of team spirit.
He repeatedly endures brutal fast bowling as a night-watchman, with no mechanism for revenge and had crowds on their feet last summer, as Matthew Wade championed the phrase ‘Nice Garry’, triggering a world record attempt at the MCG.
Who could forget the roar when he dismissed Sami Aslam with his third ball of that 2016 Test match, with 60,000 jubilant people failing to break the world record?
Lyon truly is one of Australian cricket’s great characters, and his Test record is remarkable. He may not be in the top echelon of Test spinners, but he comfortably sits just below.
As Elgar and Amla found out, the Australian off-spinner is a game-changing weapon, which no statistic can ever truly define.
JohnB
Guest
DaveJ - certainly - no one measure is going to be more than a guide. It remains true though that if you get to 4 you're very good, and the closer you get to 5 wickets per test the closer you are to being great.
DaveJ
Guest
It’s not a bad one JB, but if you think about it, a spin bowler in a team with great pace bowlers will probably take fewer wickets per match than a Murali, an Ashwin or an O’Reilly who were relied upon more to take wickets.
JohnB
Guest
Wickets per test is a pretty fair shorthand indicator of quality. Lyon going along just under 4 makes him a very good test bowler, but short of great.
JonR
Guest
Thanks Patrick, some good points, but averages are still a much better statistic than aggregate in comparing bowlers. You are quite right about the need to take into account where people got their wickets and how their fared around the world. Some of the Indian and Pakistani bowlers you mention had great records at home but not so great away. You could add Ashwin, whose average away from India is 32. If you look at who has done the best on all surfaces away from home, the best are Wardle (20), O’Reilly (21) Grimmett (24), Benaud (24’, Warne (26), Tayfield (26), Underwood, Mallett and Verity (27) and Murali (28). Lyon is up there with Laker and Gibbs on 29, so no doubt he rates among the best in that sense. But not the very best. Apart from Wardle, who might be a bit of an outlier, these are the guys most often mentioned as the great spinners. But Lyon is still a long way from the top half dozen. I’d add that I think that you are wrong about pitches being much flatter in recent years. I don’t think analysis of runs per wicket would support that.
Patrick
Roar Pro
Hi Jon, I acknowledge that total wickets is in many ways a limited statistic, and you raise a good point about averages. Ultimately, averages also have their weaknesses, as conditions have changed in favour of batsmen in recent years, with many flat pitches providing little for bowlers. This has been particularly prevalent in Australia, with frequent scores over 500, where Lyon has played 37 of his test matches. Lyon's average is also improving, with his 63 wickets last year coming at an average of 23.55. Another factor to consider is that only 17/75 of Lyon's tests have taken place in Asia, which is around 23%. By comparison, Jadeja has played 27/35 (77%) tests in Asia, with his average very much a product of spinner-friendly wickets. Iqbal Qasim is similar, with 39/50 (78%) tests in Asia, as is Bishen Bedi (33/39- 84%), Saeed Ajmal (22/35- 63%), and Saqlain Mushtaq (32/49- 65%). Naturally this doesn't apply for all of the players you mentioned, but it demonstrates that many factors can have an impact on a players average, and thus provide an unfair comparison. Overall, I acknowledge that averages would have been worth considering in my article, but every statistic has its weaknesses. I attempted to highlight this by saying that "all cricket fans know that a player’s legacy is judged by more than just numbers". Thanks for your comment, it certainly raises a valid point. With Lyon making significant improvement in the last year, hopefully we'll see his average drop, and total wickets rise.
JonR
Guest
Are you really judging bowlers on the aggregate number of wickets they take rather their average over a sustained perio? That is astoundingly misconceived as a benchmark of quality. Sure aggregates are a great achievement, but they tell you as much about longevity and the frequency of Tests in a particular era as the relative effectiveness of bowlers, or batsmen. On that basis you’d be arguing Justin Langer or Alec Stewart were better than Don Bradman. Or Makhaya Ntini and Stewart Broad superior to Dennis Lillee, Zaheer Khan ranked above Michael Holding. Seriously? If we look at bowlers’ averages, I would suggest starting from 1920 as before then pitches were generally worse and bowling (and batting) averages much lower. The spinners with best career averages since then, among players who have played at least 20 matches, are: Johnny Wardle (20), Jim Laker (21), Bill O’Reilly (23), Murali (23), Jadeja (24), Clarrie Grimmett (24), Hedley Verity (24), Warne (25), Tony Lock (26) Derek Underwood (26), Ashwin (26), Hugh Tayfield (26), Richie Benaud (27) Saeed Ajmal (28), Iqbal Qasim (28), Bishen Bedi (29), Sonny Ramadhin (29), Stuart MacGill, Lance Gibbs (29), Ian Johnson (29), SP Gupte (29), Herath (30), Chandrasekhar (30), Anil Kumble (30), Saqlain Mushtaq (30) and Ashley Mallett (30). Vettori and Harbhajan, who like Lyon (31.5) averaged in the 30s, don’t make this list. Players can only play in the number of matches that are scheduled (see Bradman over 20 years) and for which they are picked (see Stuart MacGill). So while Lyon is making a great contribution at the moment and over the long term, and is among the best spinners we’ve had, it’s hard to argue - purely on statistics- beyond than that so far he belongs to a group of very good but not great spinners like Johnson, MacGill and Mallett. Hopefully he will overtake them by the time his career ends. In the meantime, it’s hard to argue against the proposition that Hugh Trumble 141 wickets at 22 over 14 years has the best record among Australian offspinners, even accounting for lower scores in those days. (And remember, earlier generations didn’t have easy pickings against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and sometimes New Zealand).
Patrick
Roar Pro
Thanks Paul, His fielding certainly is important. That runout at the Gabbba was vital, and arguably had a massive bearing on the series. He just has a knack of making game-changing contributions at the right time.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Lyon may end up taking 559 to 599 wickets.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Lyon may end up taking 559 to 699 wickets.
Paul
Guest
An excellent read Patrick. If you throw in his fielding, which is also world class, he's as good as any of the guys you've mentioned. Only time will tell how much more he can add to an already impressive record.