Nathan Lyon’s Ashes campaign may be over, but his stunning three-over spell on day four in Adelaide extinguished any fears the art of spin bowling is dying in Australia.
After the veteran spinner was omitted from the Brisbane Test in favour of seamer Michael Neser, some cricket commentators began writing obituaries for slow bowling.
With the quicks dominating on surfaces that offered more assistance to the pace bowlers, there was a compelling argument that the future of spin bowling in Australia looked a little wobbly.
If Mitchell Starc and a second-string of seamers could demolish England in a handful of days, was the trusted old formula of three pacemen and a spinner consigned to the dustbin of history?
There had been some warning signs. In the previous summer against India, Lyon bowled only 122 overs, his lowest total in a home summer.
Even though Lyon had only two overs in the first game in Perth after Starc dismantled England in two days, most pundits expected him to play in the day-night Test in Brisbane.
After all, the 38-year-old has an imposing record in pink ball Tests, with 43 wickets at a tick over 25. And Australian spinners have often feasted on the extra bounce pace of the Gabba wickets.
So, when Andrew McDonald and George Bailey told Lyon he wouldn’t be playing 30 minutes after arriving at the ground, citing the old “horses for courses” idiom, the spinner was fuming.
Lyon was reassured after being dumped for the Jamaica Test in July; it was merely an “exceptional circumstance” and a “one-off”.
But leaving Australia’s greatest ever finger spinner out on home soil was heresy. He had missed only one previous Test in Australia, way back in 2012 at the WACA against India, when the Australians opted for an all-out pace attack.
Alex Carey reacts after Harry Brook was bowled by Nathan Lyon. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
But when he was dropped for the Brisbane Test, someone in the marketing department at Cricket Australia thought it would be a clever idea to roll out Lyon in front of the Channel 7 cameras for an insightful, light-hearted take on his axing.
Lyon refused to serve up the party line and was brutally blunt, saying he was “absolutely filthy”. His 12th man duties had all the cheery disposition of a person on death row.
When Ben Stokes and Will Jacks dug in for England on the fourth day of the Brisbane Test and denied the seamer for almost 36 overs, it appeared the selectors had made a gaffe by leaving out Lyon.
Until Neser removed both Stokes and Jacks, he eventually finished with his best-ever Test figures of 5-42. The Australian brains trust had got it right again.
But Lyon was a certainty for Adelaide, given that he has taken more Test wickets at the ground than at any other venue in the world.
By the ninth over of the first innings of the Test, he dispelled any lingering doubts that spin bowling was a fading craft in Australia.
The dismissal of opener Ben Duckett was a moment of off-spin perfection. The ball pitched, spun past the outside edge, and clipped the off stump.
The wicket was Lyon’s 564th, making him Australia’s second-most prolific wicket-taker after Shane Warne.
However, after the News South Welshman sent down 37 consecutive wicketless overs across England’s two innings, having struck twice in his first over on day one, some on social media began to question whether Lyon could still work his magic on a flat deck.
Just when it looked like Zak Crawley and Harry Brook were mounting a charge on day four, Lyon delivered 15 minutes of spin wizardry.
Brook – the chosen disciple for Bazball – was bowled by Lyon while attempting a reverse sweep.
Australia’s Nathan Lyon gestures to the crowd after taking the wicket of England’s Zak Crawley. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
Enter Ben Stokes. The England captain had spent more time at the crease than any other player in the Ashes series, but Lyon bowled him with such a perfect off-break that it looked AI-generated.
Even Stokes paused to acknowledge the stunning delivery.
Then Lyon mesmerised Crawley, luring the batter forward with a delirious delivery before Carey whipped off the stumps.
His brilliant three-over blitz all but sealed the urn. His dazzling, albeit brief, display also clearly highlighted what England lacks.
With Australia searching for quick wickets on day five, Lyon was expected to play a crucial role before tearing his right hamstring after diving while fielding a ball at fine leg.
The injury mirrored the calf strain he sustained at Lord’s during the 2023 Ashes. Lyon is likely to miss the remainder of the series.
With the next Ashes contest in England 18 months away, it’s hard to say whether Lyon will be on the tour, given his recent soft-tissue injuries. You’d be a brave fool to write him off.
But his bowling masterclass in England’s second innings proves that the art of spin bowling is alive and well in Australia.
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