LYON EYES MILESTONE
UNASSUMING Nathan Lyon reckons even Richie Benaud might shake his head in bewilderment at the indelible milestone that is about to link the pair in Dhaka.
Just one wicket in the first Test against Bangladesh starting tomorrow will draw Lyon equal with Benaud’s magic mark of 248, while a second scalp will take him into his own air as Australia’s second-highest all-time spin wicket-taker behind Shane Warne.
Lyon has become cast as one of the great survivors in Australian cricket, but at some point he must be properly recognised as one of its great achievers.
He looks back fondly on some “special” conversations he was able to share with the late, great Benaud before his passing two years ago, and wonders what the father figure of Australian spinners might have thought at the landmark change that is pending in the record books.
At first glance Benaud and Lyon are an odd fit — one a debonair, cavalier charmer of the 1950s and the other a gritty scrapper from the NSW country who has constantly had to prove himself.
“I was a long way off him then [when we last spoke],” a grinning Lyon said.
“I don’t think he ever thought I’d get there.”
Certainly that throwaway line sums up the general attitude of Australian cricket towards Lyon and his skills since his debut in Sri Lanka back in 2011.
But self-effacement aside, Lyon has shown himself to be a cricketer of enormous substance and his place in the history books is richly deserved.
Mike Hussey saw a leader in disguise and his move to hand Lyon the custodianship of the team song has proven a masterstroke.
Benaud, as one of the great champions of spin bowling, would be applauding one of the magnificent unsung stories in Australian cricket.
“It’s very special to have met someone like Richie and been able to talk to him,” Lyon said. “He obviously was an Australian cricket legend. He was just a nice, humble guy.”
The milestone, he said, would be nice, “but I’ve always said from day one in my career, that [not until] the end of my career will I look back and see where I get to. I’m not here to make milestones, I’m here to win series and games of cricket for Australia. I’ll just take it as it comes.”
To be on the verge of 250 wickets from 68 Tests as an off-spinner is a mighty effort, particularly when Lyon has been looking over his shoulder for the majority of his career.
There is some poetry to the fact that a 19-year-old Ashton Agar exploded on to the scene four years ago as perhaps the biggest threat to Lyon’s place in the Test team.
But now in Bangladesh, Lyon sees himself as a role model for Agar in his longawaited return.