Pat Cummins usually settles his line-up a day out, yet he left Sabina Park on Thursday night without an answer to the big question: does Nathan Lyon play?
Key facts first. Australia meet West Indies in Kingston on Friday in their first overseas day-night Test. A fresh pink Kookaburra, a surface with a greenish tinge and the evening humidity have pushed selectors to consider four specialist quicks, something that would sideline Lyon for the first time—injuries aside—in 12 years.
“I think everything’s an option. We honestly haven’t settled on it. We all left yesterday and thought we’d just sleep on it, come back and have a look and make up our mind today,” Cummins said after training. The captain, head coach Andrew McDonald and selector Tony Dodemaide spent a good ten minutes chatting in the middle before stumps were pulled.
Why the hesitation? Even in a pace-heavy series Lyon has 9 for 165 at 18.33, including 6 for 61 in Grenada, leaving him one wicket shy of Glenn McGrath’s 563. Overall he averages 25.62 with the pink ball, a tick lower than his red-ball mark, but in recent day-nighters he barely bowled: one over against India in Adelaide and none in Hobart versus England.
Cummins again: “[There are] a few more unknowns… I think mainly [the] pink ball and trying to get our heads around exactly what it’s going to do. That last session [under lights] might be a little bit longer than Adelaide.”
If Australia do go four fasts, Scott Boland is first in line. His 12 wickets at 16.75 across three day-nighters underline how well his stump-to-stump method suits the twilight period, when the lacquered ball tends to nibble. Beau Webster, the towering all-rounder, offers gentle off-spin and would partner Travis Head for part-time duties should Lyon sit.
A left-field option—five bowlers plus an extra batter—has been floated but feels unlikely. With Mitchell Starc set for his 100th Test, the attack looks settled save for the Lyon question.
Starc reflected on the core group he, Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Lyon have formed since New South Wales age-group days. “We’ve spent a lot of time together,” he said. “So to play with a lot of really close mates, to play with a lot of really good people around the staff and the playing group has been really special.”
Would dropping Lyon sour that milestone? Cummins is adamant the dressing-room can separate sentiment from tactics. “I mean, it’s all hypothetical here. I think everyone here has a pretty good track record of doing whatever the team needs and being really excited for the…” he began, before trailing off into the next question.
For Lyon the stakes are obvious: one more wicket equals McGrath, two puts him alone behind only Shane Warne in Australia’s all-time list. Yet the broader picture is a two-match series sitting 1-nil in Australia’s favour, a pink ball that can misbehave under lights and a captain who values horses for courses.
We’ll know at the toss. Until then, everything’s an option.
