For all Nathan Lyon‘s batting heroics at Edgbaston – his drive through mid-off and flick over mid-on against Stuart Broad will go down in Australian Ashes folklore – he is unlikely to get the chance to raise his bat for a century. However, he can acknowledge such a landmark when the coin goes up at Lord’s, because he will join the small group of players to appear in 100 consecutive Test matches.
Lyon will be the first specialist bowler and third Australian after Allan Border (153 Tests) and Mark Waugh (107) to play a hundred Tests without a break. Border didn’t miss a game from his fourth Test onwards, while Waugh went on an unbroken run after being recalled for the 1993 Ashes. The others on the list are Alastair Cook (159), Sunil Gavaskar (106) and England’s current coach Brendon McCullum (101) whose entire Test career was played without an absence.
“It’ll be extremely special,” Lyon said after throwing out the first pitch at the MLB London game. “One hundred consecutive Test matches for anyone is a pretty special feat. I hate talking about myself but that’s one record I’m extremely proud of. Especially being a bowler and No. 11 batter that you’re able to get that feat done and tick off 100 consecutive games, that’s something that I’ll be extremely proud of when it happens and more importantly when my career is done.”
This will be Lyon’s 122nd Test overall. With a fair wind, continued fitness and form he could challenge Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh’s Australia record of 168 appearances.
There is a symmetry to Lyon reaching the hundred mark at Lord’s. It was in England during 2013 that the run began. With 76 wickets at 33.18 from 22 Tests, including nine in his previous outing in Delhi, he was left out in favour of Ashton Agar at Trent Bridge and Lord’s (both matches which Australia lost) before earning a recall at Old Trafford. Since then he has forged a career where he sits behind only Shane Warne as Australia’s greatest spinner. From when he returned in 2013, he is Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker.
When Lyon debuted in 2011, Australia had cycled through spinners since the retirement of Warne after the 2006-07 Ashes. From that moment, until Lyon took a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket against Sri Lanka in Galle, Nathan Hauritz was the most successful spinner with 58 wickets at 36.22 in 16 Tests. Next came Marcus North with 14 at 42.21. The list includes such names as Cameron White, Beau Casson, Michael Beer and Bryce McGain. There was also some chap called Steven Smith.
There is hope that the transition from Lyon – whenever it comes, and he has no appetite to stop – will be smoother with the emergence of Todd Murphy but they will still be huge shoes to fill.
If things go well for Lyon at Lord’s – and England will no doubt continue to offer him chances by their aggressive approach – he could also bring up his 500th Test wicket. The eight he claimed at Edgbaston leaves him five short of a milestone only seven players, including Warne and Glenn McGrath, have reached.
At times it has been questioned whether Lyon was a true matchwinner as a few opportunities to spin Australia to fourth-innings victories slipped away. But after a trying 2020-21 season where wickets dried up against India, he has entered a golden period. He was the fulcrum of Australia’s attack in their World Test Championship success, taking 88 wickets in that cycle, and has begun the next one productively.
Lyon was central to Australia’s three crucial subcontinental wins which got them into the final: five wickets in the final innings in Lahore; five wickets in the first innings in Galle; and 8 for 64 in Indore. He is currently averaging 24.35 in 2023 which is his best year to include more than three Tests since 2017. After Edgbaston, his average has ticked under 31 for the first time since 2012.
“You get an appreciation of the skill levels from afar, but to see it day-to-day, to see the amount he works on it and to understand just how good he is, don’t think you think get that privilege unless you are in this setting,” Daniel Vettori, Australia’s assistant coach who took 362 wickets for New Zealand, told ESPNcricinfo.
“In the last couple of years it just feels like he gets seven, eight wickets every Test. He’s ratcheted up his wicket-taking ability and that’s testament to the ability to bowl long, quality spells and rarely bad balls. Think that’s the thing that most other spinners admire about him, the pressure never comes off and it’s through a very attacking style of bowling. To marry up that style with consistency, that probably sets him apart.”
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Ashes rivals Anderson and Lyon throw first pitch at MLB London
England’s James Anderson and Australia’s Nathan Lyon throw first ceremonial pitches at MLB London ahead of the second Ashes Test
There is an element of good fortune in the century of consecutive Tests because you are only ever a rapid bouncer away from a broken finger or a sprint from a pulled hamstring but it’s also credit to Lyon’s preparation and professionalism. And while Lyon would have loved to have played more white-ball cricket for Australia, he has probably benefitted from not doing so. His schedule has natural breaks, although he has never shirked from New South Wales duty when available.
Yet, though a spin bowler does not put the physical strain on their body that a quick does, it only needs a glance at England’s current predicament to know they can pick up injuries like anyone else. Fingers, shoulders and backs still go through a lot. It is not without reason that on occasions where Lyon has landed awkwardly in the field there have been sharp intakes of breath. In Test cricket alone, and this is only the actual recorded deliveries, he has put his right shoulder through more than 31,000 rotations. His career is a story of great skill and great endurance.