After being last year’s leading wicket-taker with 63 wickets at 23.55, Nathan Lyon has continued in his rich vein of form in 2018.
Those 2017 wickets included 8/50 against India in Bangalore, setting a new two-Test series record for Australia; 22 scalps against Bangladesh; and 21 wickets in Ashes, of which 18 were left-handed.
That performance came after being in danger of being dropped after the tour of Sri Lanka and his wicketless overs against South Africa at home.
On Day 2 he snapped Dean Elgar to a superb returning catch and sent dangerous Hashim Amla packing in the same over. Later on, when Quinton de Kock was just starting to get going with AB de Villiers at another end, he cleaned up De Kock before the talismanic Mitchell Starc did the rest of the damage.
Despite not having the best of backings from Steven Smith, he has surpassed expectations each time he stepped onto the field. In doing so he has gone ahead of Fawad Ahmed, Jon Holland, Michael Beer, Steve O’Keeffe, Ashton Agar and Xavier Doherty, who were rated and tried before him.
(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
His rise has been stupendous, from being a groundsman at Adelaide Oval to take a five-wicket haul on debut against Sri Lanka in the first Test, which set up the victory for the series.
Up to 2014 his average away from home was 39.15 in 19 Tests, but since then his overseas average improved to 23. No doubt his years of wisdom have done him a world of good.
Even in Australia compared to other spinners he does far better. Lyon averages 33 with a strike rate of 65 as compared to touring spinners who have a strike rate of 92.80 with an average of 52.
No doubt as the leading wicket-taker for Australia as off-spinner he is hailed greatest of all time.
But he is trusted only in the white ball arena. Until now he has played just 13 ODIs, the last of which was in 2016. He has never been given a fair stretch. Despite fielding questions time and time again during the 4-1 ODI loss to England, Lyon still can’t seem to find a place in the limited-overs format.
(AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Even in the Big Bash League his record is excellent for a spinner. In 25 matches he picked up 36 wickets at an economy of 6.82, which is close to a run per ball in a what’s supposed to be a big-hitting format.
This season he played four BBL matches for the Sydney Sixers, and in one of them he picked up seven wickets at an economy rate of 5.88 in a man of the match performance. He has made clear his desire to be part of the world cup team in 2019 and to become the number one spinner for Australia in all formats.
Spinners can play until they’re around 38 years old, so at just 30 Lyon is halfway through his career. Looking at the spinners of the world in last ten years, Anil Kumble retired at 38 and Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne retired at 37.
Rangana Herath is still doing well at 39 and recently became a leading left-arm wicket-taker despite starting at 29. Given his purple patch, Lyon looks good to get 500 to 600 Test wickets.
When a guy is picking up wickets despite the ball and he’s in as good form as Lyon, he should be worth gambling on, and given the Kangaroos lack a premium spinner in the limited overs format, it’s worth giving Lyon a crack.
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