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Nathan Lyon has taken four wickets at an average of 130 from his four first-class matches this summer; he should be replaced by a fourth pace bowler if the pitch for tomorrow’s day-night Test at Adelaide is close to being as juicy as it was last year.
In the inaugural pink-ball Test at Adelaide last December Lyon made a handy contribution, snaring 3-78 and cracking a crucial 34 with the bat in the first dig.
At that time however, Lyon was in fantastic form coming off arguably the best series of his career, the 2015 Ashes.
Right now he is mired in a deep trough. This current series against South Africa has been comfortably the worst of his career, in a statistical sense. Not only has he had minimal penetration, with collective figures of 2-241, but he’s leaked runs consistently, giving up almost four runs per over.
Lyon’s economy rate is particularly worrying compared to the 2.47 runs per over figure of rookie Proteas spinner Keshav Maharaj.
Captain Steve Smith appears to have lost confidence in his off spinner. It seems the only reason Lyon was even picked in the Australian squad for tomorrow’s Test is because of Steve O’Keefe’s calf problem, the latter having outbowled Lyon regularly when playing for Australia or New South Wales in the past 12 months.
But just because Lyon is in the squad doesn’t mean he should be an automatic selection at Adelaide. Gun new-ball pair Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are locks for this match. Australia also have a couple of support quicks perfectly suited to a seaming deck in Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers.
If the Adelaide surface is as moist as it’s expected to be, Bird and Sayers would both be more effective than Lyon considering his dismal form.
Bird was unlucky to miss out on selection in the second Test at Hobart, with South Australian seamer Joe Mennie making his debut.
The Tasmanian has been impressive in his five-Test career, grabbing 21 wickets at an average of 25. Furthermore, Bird is accustomed to the kind of conditions expected at Adelaide, having made a name for himself running through Sheffield Shield batting line-ups on what were green, seaming decks at Bellerive Oval back in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
Like South African quicks Vernon Philander and Kyle Abbott, who destroyed Australia at Hobart, Bird’s method is simple – aim for the top of off stump and try to get the ball to wobble through the air or off the seam. In this manner, he is similar to Sayers who, along with Bird, is among the most accurate bowlers in Australian cricket.
Bird and Sayers are not so similar so as to offer a lack of variety though. At 195cm tall and owning a high arm action, Bird can get the ball to rear off the pitch like Hazlewood and Starc. Sayers, meanwhile, is just 180cm tall and his deliveries skid through, a bit like Philander, who is even shorter than the South Australian.
Sayers is slower through the air than Bird – operating mainly in the 125-130kmh range – but possesses the rare ability to swing the ball both ways. Of current Test cricketers, only England’s James Anderson has shown the talent to achieve this consistently.
If he debuts at Adelaide, Sayers will be the most skilful swing bowler to play for Australia since Damien Fleming. Having dominated the Shield over the past four seasons, it would be just reward.