Done dusted: Lyon ends 11-month wait for 400th

Brisbane, December 11

A bit of banter from the new captain was all Nathan Lyon needed to end his 11-month wait to move from 399 Test wickets and become only the third Australian to reach the milestone of 400.

Lyon didn’t get a wicket in the first innings when England were out for 147 on Day 1. He bowled 24 overs and conceded 69 runs without taking a wicket on Day 3 as the tourists rallied to reach 220/2 at stumps.

The 34-year-old admitted it was playing on his mind. Australia hadn’t played a Test match since January, and he’d taken only nine wickets in that losing four-Test series against India — the masters against spin. Lyon isn’t usually one to acknowledge milestones, he said, but teammates were joking with him about the length of time between wickets and what he planned to do to celebrate. So he couldn’t ignore it.

Pace bowler Pat Cummins, in his first Test as Australia captain since replacing Tim Paine, took Lyon aside after play on Friday to joke about it. “I said last night, ‘You’re never going to get your 400!'” Cummins, recalling his novel motivational approach for his long-time teammate, said after Australia completed the win, adding: “Nice for him to get that this morning. He bowled really well yesterday without luck.”

Lyon laughed, let off steam and in just the fourth over today, dismissed Dawid Malan to end England’s 162-run third-wicket partnership and his personal wait since January 19 to progress from 399 to 400 Test wickets.

“There’s been a lot of banter going on so it was probably on my mind more because of that,” Lyon said. “It’s been some hard toil to get it to get it, but it’s very, very rewarding.”

Lyon added three more wickets as England were bowled out for 297. He joined leg-spinner Shane Warne (708 wickets) and paceman Glenn McGrath (563) as the only Australians to surpass the 400-wicket barrier in Tests.

He’s only the second spinner from outside of Asia — the other is Warne — to reach 400, and he’s the 17th bowler overall across more than 140 years to reach the milestone. The all-time list is topped by Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 800 between 1992 and 2010.

Lyon first emerged in 2011 following a stint as a curator at the Adelaide Oval. That, along with the end of a nervous wait, will mean he’s relaxed for the second Test in Adelaide. — PTI