Nathan Lyon accepts that nobody owns a guaranteed spot in Australia’s XI, yet he insists there is nothing left for him to prove as he lines up for a likely return at Adelaide Oval – his second comeback in three Tests.
The 38-year-old off-spinner went through a full workout during Monday’s main session. Pat Cummins bowled lightly but is expected to play, while Steven Smith, absent with illness, should train on Tuesday after a solid hit-out 24 hours earlier.
Lyon’s situation is no longer straightforward. He has sat out Australia’s last two day-night Tests – selectors argued that four quicks better suited those conditions – and bowled just eight overs in the team’s previous two home red-ball matches.
He has spoken openly about his frustration at being overlooked, convinced his bowling still offers value on any surface. Even so, he is keen not to turn this week into a personal audition.
“I’ve played 140 Test matches, I feel like I don’t have a point to prove to anyone,” Lyon said. “I’m very clear on my role within this Australian cricket team. I love playing with everyone in that change room, and love representing Australia. So if I get that opportunity again, I’ll keep doing that. My dream is to continue to play cricket for Australia. And no one’s got a given right to be selected. You’ve got to work your backside off to make sure that you put your hand up for selection and you earn that right.”
Adelaide remains Lyon’s favourite ground and, statistically, one of his best. He boasts 63 wickets here at 25.36, with four five-fors, although the most recent came in 2019. Two subsequent pink-ball fixtures yielded limited workloads: 30 overs (only 10 in the fourth innings) in 2022, then a single over against India last summer. In between, the January 2024 red-ball Test was over inside seven sessions, restricting him to 15.3 overs.
Having delivered only two overs in this Ashes series so far, Lyon is unsure how England’s batters will tackle him on an Adelaide pitch that often breaks up late.
“I haven’t really had the opportunity to get my teeth into this Test series yet, but that opportunity will hopefully come soon,” Lyon said. “I’m expecting [England’s batters] to take me on.”
A personal landmark also looms. Lyon’s 562nd wicket, taken in Grenada back in July, put him one shy of Glenn McGrath’s tally. Three Tests and five months have passed without him adding to the total, leaving the off-spinner still third on Australia’s all-time list.
He knows the record will fall eventually; for now, his priority is simply to bowl well enough, for long enough, that his next appearance in the Baggy Green is not his last.
