Lyon reveals Warne influence to keep Spin 'cool'

Nathan Lyon has revealed how the sudden death of Shane Warne prompted him to keep spin bowling “cool” as the battle among Australia's young talent to find his partner on next year's Test tour of Sri Lanka heats up.

While there is no end date in sight for Lyon, who have vowed to play as long as possible, Australia's biggest underdog announced on Saturday ahead of NSW's blockbuster Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria that he is committed to “raising the flag” . Spinners all over the country”.

The competition behind the 36-year-old for the utility spin places in Australia's squad for the two-Test tour of Sri Lanka in February is fierce. In the running are Test bowlers Todd Murphy, Mitch Swepson and Matthew Kuhnemann, as well as Corey Rocchiccioli and Tanveer Sangha after groundbreaking domestic performances.

Murphy and Kuhnemann shone alongside Lyon in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India last year with their first Test bowling five wickets, while Rocchiccioli, whose home ground is the notoriously pace-friendly WACA Ground, smashed the door with 46 wickets in the final Shield. Season.

Since the legendary leg-spinner's death in 2022, Lyon – who needs another 34 wickets to become Australia's second most prolific Test bowler after Warne – believes it has become his duty to promote spin bowling in the next generation of Australian cricketers .

The veteran played his first game since July in last week's drawn season opener against South Australia, after spending the winter playing county cricket for Lancashire during Australia's eight-month break between Test series, where he worked closely with emerging England left-arm spinner Tom Hartley collaborated.

But it is the young local talents like Sangha, who worked with him for NSW last week and shared 60 of the 102 overs on the final day, that are keeping him going in his mission to ensure spin stays cool for future generations inspire most.

“It was probably a conversation with my dad after 'Warnie' died,” Lyon said of the responsibility of flying the flag for Australian spinners.

“If we have this conversation and understand that we are role models in many ways to so many people around the world and if we can do our small part to hopefully make people better cricketers or better people, then we will do ours Job.”

“I feel like it's a big task for me to make sure the spin stays kind of cool.”

“I'm not cool in any way, but I can try to promote spin bowling and show how great it is to be a spin bowler and what opportunities there are to play Test cricket around the world.”

Off-spinners Murphy and Rocchiccioli will both be part of the upcoming Australia A series against India A, with the Victorian set to play the first four-day game in Mackay from October 31, while Rocchiccioli will spend time with the men's spin coach Daniel Vettori, who will be there in Melbourne for the first ODI against Pakistan.

The roles will then be reversed in the second Australia A match at the MCG on November 7, with Rocchiccioli joining the starting XI and Murphy traveling to Adelaide, where the second ODI is scheduled for November 8.

George Bailey, the national men's selector chairman, told cricket.com.au this week that the panel believed off-spin would be more important for the A series in Australian conditions should something happen to Lyon in the Test summer, but that wouldn't rule out Swepson, Sangha and Kuhnemann being considered on more spin-friendly courses in Asia.

Lyon is excited about Australia's current spin depth and is also optimistic about his own form heading into this summer's blockbuster five-Test series against India, having taken 5-47 and 3-94 in the Shield opener last week from 63.3 overs.

“Tanveer, Matty Kuhnemann, 'Swepo', 'Murph' and Corey – there are a lot of people raising their hands and they should,” Lyon said.

“Their performances in Shield cricket have gone a long way and believe me, there is nothing better than playing Test cricket.”

“Having the opportunity to play together (with Sangha) at Cricket Central last week and watching him go up against Alex Carey and Travis Head, who are at their best, is pretty cool.”

“He’s a talent and he’s going to be a superstar of the game, so I’m trying to get better and help him along the way and he’s helping me too.”

“I love getting out and playing with the younger guys. They give you the momentum and make you train harder to try to get better.”

Another set to report for February's Sri Lanka tour is all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who was not named in Victoria's squad for tomorrow's Shield clash against NSW after missing points in a second midweek game had scored 14 and 10.

Maxwell faces Friday's One-Day Cup clash against NSW, which follows the Shield game, but Australia's ODI and T20 series against Pakistan in November means his next chance against the red ball is likely to come in Victoria's rounds five and six will be against Queensland at the Gabba and MCG respectively.

“You would suggest we will get turning conditions (in Sri Lanka),” Australian men's head coach Andrew McDonald said on ABC Radio today. “If there's one thing we took away (from the ongoing) Pakistan-England series where sweeping and reversing on spinning tracks is clearly an advantage, then Glenn Maxwell, with his ability with the ball and on the field, would definitely go into it Conversation come.”

“The physical nature of (four- and five-day cricket) will be one thing he has to tick off. He took a significant step forward in the Second XI game during the week… by all accounts he made good progress.”

“This is a big test for him in terms of what his leg (which he broke at the end of 2022) can physically withstand. We also had to look after him in white-ball series.”

“We would like to see him play a Shield game and test it at a different intensity, but we are not there to force Victoria to pick certain teams at certain times.”

Lyon also backed McDonald and Bailey's calls for his county stay with Lancashire to be limited to seven games, having originally signed for the full season across all three formats, and said he was prepared to play as many extra in Cameron's absence Overs as required against India Green due to a back injury.

Joining Lyon in the NSW XI for Sunday's game against Victoria are Test teammates Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc, while Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are expected to play in Friday's one-day game at Junction Oval.

Lyon said he would play one more Shield game in round three against Queensland in Sydney, probably alongside Hazlewood, before switching his focus to India.

“I am hungry and I know the rest of the boys are hungry to have the success we are aiming for (against India),” he said. “They have outperformed us on the last two tours here.”

Sheffield Shield Rankings 2024-25

team	Games played M	Victories W	losses L	Pulled D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Strike bonus bat	Bowling bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 NSW Men NSW	1	0	0	1	0	0	1.66	1	3.66
2 Men from Western Australia WA	1	0	0	1	0	0	1.75	0.7	3.45
3 Victoria men VIC	1	0	0	1	0	0	1.5	0.5	3
4 Queensland Bulls QLD	1	0	0	1	0	0	1.26	0.7	2.96
5 Tasmanian Tigers men TAS	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.96	0.7	2.66
6 Men from South Australia SAT	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.6	1	2.6

legend

M: Games played

W: Victories

L: losses

D: Pulled

N/R: No results

Writer: Deductions

Bat: Strike bonus

Bowl: Bowling bonus

PTS: Total points