There was a running joke in the Australian dressing room during the team’s successful campaign against India this summer.
“The quicks’ running gag the whole summer was that they were putting me on ice for Sri Lanka,” Australian spinner and All Abilities Cricket ambassador Nathan Lyon said.
“They understand I’ll have a high workload over there and obviously with Pat [Cummins] not coming to Sri Lanka [due to paternity leave] … they’ve been pretty happy with the joke.”
Lyon couldn’t care less whether he bowled one or 1000 overs in the recent Border-Gavaskar series. As long as Australia win games of cricket, and he is leading the team song in the dressing room, he is a happy man.
However, sending down fewer overs than ever before in a home summer could be a blessing in disguise for Australia’s greatest off-spinner, who has opened up on the injury he is managing ahead of what will be a big workload during the two-Test series in Sri Lanka in January and February.
In the five Tests against India, Lyon bowled 122.4 overs – his lowest tally in a four- or five-Test series and the fewest he has bowled in a home summer.
Nathan Lyon celebrates the wicket of Shubman Gill at the SCG. Credit: Getty Images
Pitches that favoured fast bowlers and fast-moving matches meant Australia were able to rely less on the 37-year-old stalwart.
Sri Lanka will be a very different story, however. Lyon will be a central figure as the teams square off for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, starting in Galle on January 29.
The fact Lyon is feeling fresher than usual at the end of a blockbuster five-Test summer can only benefit Australia in their first subcontinent tour since they lost the Test series 2-1 to India in 2023.
“You can look at it both ways,” Lyon said when asked if his lack of overs would be a blessing in disguise. “I’ll get my fair share of overs in Sri Lanka, and I am looking forward to that. If I have to bowl 100 overs each week, it doesn’t bother me.
Australia’s squad for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka
Steve Smith (captain), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan McSweeney, Cooper Connolly, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Sean Abbott, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Josh Inglis.
“At the end of the day, if Australia is winning Test matches and I’m taking zero wickets or one wicket or five wickets, it doesn’t really concern me, as long as we can sing the song.
“It’s a totally different summer to what I’ve been used to over the 14 years I’ve been playing. I’m always one for having contests between bat and ball. I feel like the majority of the decks were pretty good. The Sydney wicket was a little bit interesting.
“I was pretty happy with the way the ball came out, to be honest with you.”
Signed bats organised by Nathan Lyon to raise money for cricketers with disabilities.
Lyon finished with nine wickets in the series at an average of 36.88.
Few know that Lyon went for scans following the Sydney Test after nursing a sore hip throughout the series.
Test cricket’s seventh most successful bowler – having secured 539 wickets at 30.39 – says he will be “100 per cent” right for Sri Lanka.
“It’s hard to explain; I’m not very good with medical terms,” Lyon said. “It’s like a little bursa [fluid sack] in my hip. I aggravated it and it’s been painful. I did it in the first Test.
“It doesn’t stop me from bowling. When I land on my hip, it’s pretty painful. It’ll be OK.
“I had a scan after the Test and a jab. All things going well, it’s on the mend. I did a running and gym session [on Friday]. I’m trying to avoid contact. I’ll be 100 per cent fit.”
Lyon, who bowled 87 overs in a Test in Colombo in 2016, isn’t convinced the pitches that will greet Australia in Galle will be the big-turning tracks most expect.
“I’m actually starting to think they’re going to be pretty good cricket wickets over there,” Lyon said. “I originally thought it would be spin-friendly, but I think it’ll be similar to the second Test in 2022 when Dinesh Chandimal got 206. It’ll be hard work, but I doubt we’ll be playing five spinners.”
The Border-Gavaskar series was one of the greatest seen on Australia soil. Lyon isn’t prepared to declare it his outright favourite, but says it’s “up there” and one that will be remembered for years to come.
Lyon saw the opportunity during that series to raise money for cricketers with disabilities by getting bats signed by some of India’s biggest stars. There are three bats up for auction: one with the signatures of Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah, another with Virat Kohli and Steve Smith’s autographs, plus one signed by Lyon and Ravichandran Ashwin.
The limited-edition bats feature a braille sticker in the centre and funds will go to help Cricket Australia and Taverners Australia support their All Abilities Cricket program.
The idea came to fruition over dinner with Lyon’s father-in-law. They went to a Rebel Sport store in Perth, picked up three bats and got the signatures from three Indian cricket icons. Luckily, Lyon got the autographs before Australia managed to fight their way back into the series.
“I want to help support the disability game more,” Lyon said. “Only these bats, that I know of, have got Smith and Virat signatures on one and Pat and Jasprit on the other, plus me and Ashwin on another. There’s over 1000 Test wickets on that one. It’s hard to know what they will fetch.
“I always want to give back to the game that’s given me so much. When I started, I was fully invested, just trying to survive [in the team]. I’m very fortunate in the position I’m now in that hopefully I can make a difference. It’s just in my blood, I guess.”
