Lyon in perfect trial for Ashes
NATHAN Lyon is primed to become the southpaw slayer this Ashes summer after his merciless feast on Bangladeshi left-handers in the second cricket Test last night.
The record-breaking offspinner went on an lbw rampage to spearhead Australia’s face-saving mission in Chittagong, sending an ominous warning to England, who are planning to turn up at the gates of the Gabba fortress with no less than seven lefty batsmen in their order.
This time last year, Lyon limped out of a disastrous tour of Sri Lanka and was set to be axed for the home Test summer against South Africa and Pakistan, only to hold on by the skin of his teeth.
However, in anticipation of the Ashes blockbuster, Lyon has hit career-best form on the subcontinent and captain Steve Smith is ready to unleash his man-eating spinner on England’s wobbly bats.
“England probably have a lot of left-handers,” Smith said.
“I don’t want to go into that too much but I dare say Nathan Lyon is going to play a pretty important role there.”
With that resounding endorsement ringing in his ears, Lyon defied the blazing heat and sapping humidity to fire through Bangladesh’s defences with figures of 4-35 from his first 15 overs and set up a solid platform for Australia to avoid the chastening low of plum- meting to No.6 on the world rankings.
It was symbolic that Lyon charged past Jason Gillespie’s mark of 259 Test wickets on the same ground where Dizzy smashed an unforgettable double-hundred in 2006.
Lyon is in unstoppable form as he rockets up the charts as Australia’s seventh leading wicket-taker. Craig McDermott (291) is his next target on the road to the 300 mark.
Last year, Lyon’s effectiveness on subcontinental pitches was questioned but he is rapidly climbing the list of most successful non-Asian bowlers in Asian conditions.
His 74 wickets take him past Graeme Swann and closer to the likes of Shane Warne (127) and Daniel Vettori (98).
Bangladesh were 6/224 after 63 overs of their first inning last night.