Is Mitchell Swepson about to turn up the heat on Nathan Lyon?

T20 cricket may not be the best form of preparation for a Test series, but Mitch Swepson’s form could be the cause of a headache of the good kind for Australia’s selectors when the team touch down in South Africa next month.

As the Brisbane Heat restricted the badly-in-need-of-a-batting-rebuild Adelaide Strikers to just 130 in last night’s elimination match to kick-start the BBL finals, Mitchell Swepson was again one of the stars.

Picking up 2-23 from his four overs and getting rid of both Alex Carey and Matt Renshaw, the leg spinner continued his consistent form, where he has taken combined figures of 6-69 across his last three matches in Heat colours.

While the Brisbane-based franchise aren’t out of the running to win the BBL, Swepson will be a key part of any potential push they make further into the finals before he takes off to South Africa with the Test squad.

Swepson may be 27 without a Test to his name, but that isn’t because he has been a million miles away. Included in plenty of Australia’s squads previously, the leg spinner who was once looked at as a potential challenger to the ‘next Warne’ had fallen behind Nathan Lyon and others in the pecking order.

With Lyon locking down Australia’s number one spin spot, opportunities for the rest in line have been few and far between.

But there is just a hint of pressure on Lyon now after a dismal showing during the home summer series against India, where his bowling and the way he was dominated on the stats sheet by Ravichandran Ashwin certainly played a large role in the series scoreline.

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It was a very tough summer in multiple facets for Australia, and while Lyon got to a point where he seemed virtually irreplaceable in the Aussie set-up, his return against India of just nine wickets at 55 was nowhere near good enough, or the standards Lyon has come to represent.

South Africa is a country that has eerily similar conditions to that of Australia in some places. While the pitches may not be generally quite as flat, bowling spin in the country is a difficult art in much the same way it is here at home.

If Lyon’s form isn’t up to scratch again though, Australia can ill afford to sit on their hands forever. There is no doubt he is going to get first crack on the other side of the Indian Ocean, but what if the form continues the steady downward trajectory?

Australian cricket fans won’t want to see it, such is the cult following of Lyon, and the talent and experience he provides in bowling his team to victory. It may be something he struggled with early in his Test career, but it is a factor of his game that has shown continued and consistent improvement in recent years.

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Not only his bowling, but his experience and energy in the field is right up there with the best of the best. He is excellent at backward point, and on the boundary, with his reflexes often allowing sharp catches to be taken or runs to be saved.

But that alone won’t keep him in the side if there is an alternative, particularly an alternative who can provide something different like Swepson.

Not since the days of Shane Warne have Australia had a long-term successful leg spinner, and while there is still plenty of debate about whether Swepson could turn into a consistent performer at the highest level of the game during the second half of his overall playing career, he may not be far away from being given a chance.

Certainly, if this series was being played in the United Arab Emirates as was once suggested, a second spinner in the shape of Swepson would be getting a run.

But with only one in the team, Swepson will need to keep bowling well in the nets, make use of any games he gets before he leaves the country (pending on the series dates, he may even get a single red-ball game in) and wait for his opportunity.

The Queensland leg spinner may be in a better position now than ever to put the pressure on Lyon. It’s not just the form of the man they call the goat that is a worry in this debate, but the form of Swepson outside of T20 cricket was phenomenal at the start of the season.

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Sure, he struggled a little in the tour game against the Indians before the start of that Test tour, but in batting-friendly conditions for the most part in the Adelaide bubble, Swepson started the Sheffield Shield season beautifully. Queensland won two of their first three games, and with Swepson picking up three five-fors and a four-for, there is little doubt that he is a big part of the reason why.

In saying all of that, T20 cricket won’t prepare you for the rigours of a Test tour, and so in many ways, it’s difficult to know what Swepson’s form is actually like with the red ball. But he was in and around the Test team all summer, and if he is landing the ball and troubling Australia’s top batsmen in the nets, there could be plenty to read into.

As mentioned, he also provides something different. Leg spin is a wicket-taking art, and at times, Australia severely struggled to build pressure and take 20 wickets in a match against India at home.

He may go for some extra runs, but if he takes the wickets, then it would be a case of job done.

It’s a mightily tricky situation for the Aussie selectors as they work off Big Bash form, but Swepson has bowled well all summer, and there could be a real chance for him to play some cricket in South Africa if Lyon doesn’t find a way to get back to his best.