Green lantern lit the way for Lyon to reach his 400-wicket milestone
NATHAN Lyon has revealed how the shackles of his struggles through the nervous 390s were broken by the unlikely wisdom of a rookie with only one Test wicket.
The hidden genius behind Lyon’s 415-wicket Test career is surely that he has taken 48 per cent of those scalps away from home, making him arguably the second greatest road spin warrior the game has seen.
Only Shane Warne, who took 55 per cent of his 708 wickets on foreign soil, has a superior overseas record to Lyon, whose unyielding consistency across all conditions stands him apart from superstars Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath, Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh, who mainly fired in the subcontinent. But for an uncharacteristic 12 months leading up to the summer’s first Ashes Test, Lyon’s looming 400-wicket milestone had started to become a millstone around his neck.
Lyon says it took some sage advice from his youngest teammate Cameron Green to unlock the gateway to the freedom and confidence he is now taking into a tour of Pakistan which can cement his legacy as modern cricket’s all-terrain benchmark.
“I think I started to read the media and obviously there was a bit of banter among the boys regarding 400 wickets and how long it was taking me, and it just felt like I was trying harder and harder. And sometimes when you try harder and harder for little milestones they get further and further away,” Lyon said. After a subdued 2020-21 summer at home against India left him stranded on 399 wickets, Lyon failed to take a wicket after days one and three to start the first Ashes Test at the Gabba – until the veteran chose the right man to sit next to in the change room. “It wasn’t until sitting in the change rooms actually next to Cameron Green – someone who is in their fifth Test match – and I said to him, ‘mate, I can’t see it how it’s happening’,” said Lyon.
“And his response was, ‘I don’t understand what you’re worried about. You’ve got 399 Test wickets, just do what you’ve done for those 399 Test wickets and it’ll come.’
“For someone who was playing in their fifth Test match and hadn’t taken a wicket himself (until that Gabba Test) … for him to just go, ‘you know what mate, you’ve taken 399, just do that again and you’ll be fine’, I took a lot from that.”
While Ashwin (31 per cent), Herath (35 per cent), Harbhajan (37 per cent) and Muralitharan (39 per cent) took the vast majority of their wickets on favourable home decks, Lyon has carved his way past 400 wickets at nearly four wickets a Test, with an almost even split between his returns home and away. It’s a huge feather in the cap for the unassuming great.
“I was sent the stats the other day regarding all the spinners of the past, and Ashwin as well, and it was quite remarkable,” Lyon said.
“I had a moment yesterday where I was pretty proud of those numbers and it made me pretty happy seeing that to be honest with you.
“Understanding where I’ve come from and what I’ve been able to do. Without being arrogant or anything like that, it was a very proud little message (showing overseas record) that I received yesterday.
“I look at it as a challenge when I’m actually away from home of how can I be effective?”