What can you say about a much-maligned bowler who has crossed 500 Test wickets? Nothing needs to be said. Just doff your hat and tell him well bowled. He is such a genius that for most of his Test career, he has always been underrated as a bowler. Neither the media nor the spectators took a serious note of his ability with the ball. I for one feel that the adulation meted to Ashwin or Jadeja or even Keshav Maharaj has not been given to Lyon. Lyon is such a brilliant bowler that when he retires, it will reveal the massive void that he would have left behind. It is not a joke to be averaging more than 4 wickets per Test despite bowling in Australia for the majority of the time. Nathan Lyon the offspinning genius.
There was a period, not so long ago, when the Australian media and the Australian public wanted Lyon dropped. Perhaps, all of us are so fooled by the magician called Shane Warne that we invariably end up comparing every prospective spinner with him. Yes, for all intent and purpose, Lyon will never be able to measure upto the once in a generation bowler. However, that does not mean that Lyon himself has created a path for himself.
The comparison with Ashwin
The mention of Lyon will inevitably invite a comparison between him and Ashwin. Both of them are good bowlers in their own right. Both have won many games for their respective sides multiple times over. Joe Root, the excellent batsman, has nicely summed up the difference between Ashwin and Lyon.
“I’d say, Ashwin is making sure that you don’t play the previous ball. He is very good at trying to drag you across the crease and get your head to one side of it and beat both edges quite frequently.
With Lyon it is all about, I think, especially in the first half of the Test match to get really over the top of the ball, get bounce bowl in between you like the knee roll and hit and try to bring short leg and leg slip into the game as much as he can and then just slowly, get slower with his pace and drift wider into that. There’s that footmarks, um, Mitchell Starc has so kindly done for him for such a long period of time.” said Root.
If I have to choose one who can pick up wickets in every condition, I will have to give an edge to Lyon because of his record in Australia and England.
Lyon for his part is all praise for his counterpart
“You look at Ashwin, he’s a world-class bowler and somebody I’ve watched closely from the start of his career. We’ve gone head-to-head many times in different conditions around the world.
“I’ve got nothing but respect for Ashwin and the way he’s gone about it. There’s an opportunity to learn from the people you play against, and without knowing it, he’s probably been one of my biggest coaches in a way.”
The GOAT
As I mentioned above, there was a period when the Australian public wanted Lyon dropped. It was felt that Lyon does not run through sides which is true. He is an excellent support bowler in the sense, that he will chip in with vital wickets at crucial stages but he will not be the one to pick up 6 or 7 wickets in an innings, unless, the conditions suit him. He showed how good he can be in the conditions that suit him in India by repeatedly picking up 8 wickets but because he wasn’t picking up these many wickets in Australia, the media was not satiated.
Quite a few spinners were tried like Steve O’ Keefe and a few others. None of them had any impact like Lyon did. Luckily for Lyon, the Australian cricketers knew his worth and that is the reason they called him the GOAT, Greatest Of All Time.
That backing from the Australian cricketers, helped in him continuing in the team despite opposition from the media and the spectators. The confidence that is gave Lyon has increased his confidence so much that Australia would have surely won the Ashes 2023 if Lyon had been part of all the Tests. The impact he had in the first and second Tests was palpable. He kept one end completely shut and picked up wickets which somewhat off-balanced England’s Bazball approach.
Winning a series in England
Australia’s inability fo win a series in England for close to 20 years still rankles Lyon. Who can forget that one delivery to Ben Stokes at Headingley? Stokes was plumb in front. The ball would have gone onto hit the middle of the middle but the umpire, if I remember correctly, Aleem Dar, shook his head to the dismay of the entire Australian team and Lyon in particular who fell to the ground in absolute disbelief with just 3 runs required for England to win. Lyon’s wish of winning a series in England could have been achieved if only Aleem Dar had realised that the ball was heading towards the middle.
“I want to play cricket for as long as I can. Haven’t won (a Test series) in India, haven’t won in England – that’s two places that I want to do, so with the injury happening a couple of months ago I feel like there’s a passion there to keep going and keep trying to get better. I’m feeling really confident, really happy with where everything is at and it’s just about going out there and performing now.”
Wrapping up Nathan Lyon the offspinning genius
Lyon will not be able to go past the genius Shane Warne. He still needs more than 100 wickets and in the wrong end of the 30s, his game time is limited. Nevertheless, he will cast his own path and will be remembered for who he was.