Lyon predicts pitch won’t turn as Australia set sights on 3-0 series sweep

No one is better qualified than Nathan Lyon to predict how the first Test pitch will play and the veteran off spinner thinks it won’t be the vicious turning wicket that many thought would be dished up.

Australia are pondering the prospect of including uncapped leggie Mitchell Swepson or left-arm orthodox option Ashton Agar in their line-up for the first match of the three-Test series which starts in Rawalpindi on Friday.

Lyon, who famously worked as a groundsman at the Adelaide Oval before his call-up to the national team, was not convinced there would be a need to another spinner and backed the part-time options of Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head to do a job if required.

If the Australians opt for a second tweaker, Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc would likely miss the cut along with Scott Boland, the find of the recent Ashes success.

“It’s interesting. Our training facilities are about three pitches over on the centre wicket and it actually wasn’t spinning that much. I know we’ve got a little bit more grass on the wicket that we’re training on compared to what looks like the match wicket,” he said.

“To be honest with you, I think we’re very comfortable where we sit within the Australian squad here that we’ve got. We’ve got enough people to cover all bases.

“It’s going to be an interesting conversation that Andrew McDonald, George Bailey and Pat Cummins have together in the lead-up but whatever team we go out with, we’re confident enough that we can play a really positive brand of cricket here in Pakistan.

“There’s not too many people in our team who could actually make a wicket, Marnus is here in the background saying he could but I strongly doubt that. The ball wouldn’t move at all,” he said in his zoom media conference.

“The surface probably looks similar to a UAE wicket at the moment. There’s not much grass on it, I daresay it’ll be pretty shiny come day one so I’m expecting it to be pretty nice to bat on for the first couple of days then hopefully spin and reverse swing will come into it.”

Lyon tipped Australia would whitewash England in the Ashes prior to the recent home summer series and the team only fell short by one wicket in the drawn SCG match which was cut short by wet weather.

The veteran offie said he would approach this series with the same mentality despite Cummins saying the team may need to be conservative at stages and grind out draws rather than chase wins.

“My mindset is every game I go into I go in to win, I don’t go in to draw or lose it. My mindset here in Pakistan is to win 3-0,” he said. 

“Obviously it’s a very different challenge to what we’re used to at home. 

“We haven’t played an away Test since 2019 so it’s going to be a big challenge for us but I think it’s a very young, exciting Test squad we’ve got here at the moment and we’re coming off a pretty spectacular summer back home that’s given the group a lot of confidence. We’re working hard, we’re training hard.”

Lyon said he expected to be used in varying ways throughout the series and within each Test, varying between a holding role and an attacking option.

When asked if he had a preference for Agar or Swepson if the selectors went with two front-line spinners, he backed each tweaker to step up if included.

“Both Mitch and Ash are bowling incredibly well but we’re very lucky when you look at our top order, we’ve got guys like Marnus and Smithy and also Travis who can bowl spin as well. We’re very lucky in that area,” he said.

“They’re both bowling well in the nets and they’re both putting their hands up for selection, as I am.

“I think there’s going to be periods of time where the likes of Smithy, Travis and Marnus will get the opportunity with the ball. We’ve seen both Marnus and Smithy play a role in taking some big wickets along the way throughout their Test careers so I think they will have the opportunity to get the ball at some stage.”

Pakistan-born former Victorian spinner Fawad Ahmed was going to be helping the Australian tweakers in the foreign conditions but he has not been able to join the squad in their preparations in Rawalpindi as yet as he has been in isolation due to the biosecurity protocols.

The first tour to Pakistan since 1998 is the beginning of a crucial period for Australia as they look to qualify for the World Test Championship final after missing last year’s trophy clash when they had points deducted for a slow over rate.

Babar Azam. (Harry Trump-IDI/IDI via Getty Images)

“It’s not just this tour we’re focused on, it’s a massive 12 months for the Australian cricket team. We’ve got a lot of subcontinent tours – in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and then into India as well,” he said.

“It’s a pretty proud moment when you look around world cricket and Pakistan haven’t had the opportunity to have a lot of international cricket here over a number of years so to be able to be the first Australian team to come here to Pakistan to play, we’ve spoken as a group how big it is for world cricket and the people here in Pakistan as well.”

As for the opposition, Lyon is relishing the prospect of matching it with Pakistani skipper Babar Azam, who has consistently been rated one of the best batters on the planet in recent years.

“I’ve always said I want to compete against the best players in the world and Babar is definitely one of those guys so I can’t wait to challenge myself but there’s unbelievable batters in this Pakistan line-up that I’m going to have some decent challenges with,” he said.

“Babar is definitely high up there in the stakes of one the best cricketers in the world, that’s for sure.”