Mystery ball to cast a spell on England’s Cook
NATHAN Lyon has something special waiting for Alastair Cook this Ashes summer.
Fresh from carving up Bangladesh’s left-handers, spinner Lyon is set to unleash the same mystery ball he perfected on the subcontinent on the England ace who holds the key to a fragile batting order.
Lyon claimed 22 wickets at an average of just 14 runs per dismissal in Bangladesh, feasting on the lefties who couldn’t pick the straight one cannoning into the pads or the one spinning away from the bat.
This is Lyon’s fourth Ashes campaign, and the homework he has compiled on 11,000Test run ace Cook, is years in the making.
“I definitely think the lefthanders are vulnerable to a ball, but I’m not going to name it,” Lyon said.
“There’s something that I’ve actually watched Graeme Swann and watched Ravi Ashwin bowl quite well, so hopefully I can implement that into my game out here against the English and see how I go.”
Lyon has shrugged off shoulder soreness which kept him out of NSW’s last one-day match, and he is a certain starter in next week’s opening Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at Adelaide.
Lyon’s Test record of 269 wickets from 69 matches suggests he’s historically been more lethal against righties.
However, on the subcontinent this year he sent a warning that lefties should beware.
On the 2015 Ashes in England, Lyon started with a bang against Cook, with the opener unable to score a single run off the 13 balls he faced from Lyon in the first Test in Cardiff before being caught behind off the 14th.