Nathan Lyon’s long, painstaking wait was finally over on December 11 as he clinched his 400th Test wicket for Australia, becoming only the third from his country to enter the elite club.
Lyon recorded the incredible feat when he gave Australia a much-needed breakthrough at the start of Day 4 of the Ashes opener versus England at the Gabba in Brisbane.
The off-spinner got England’s well-set left-hander Dawid Malan out edging a ball to silly-point to push Australia towards a comprehensive Test win and personally enter the list where previously only legends like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath resided from his country.
Only Warne (708 wickets) and McGrath (563) are ahead of Lyon in the list of Australia’s highest ever Test wicket-takers. Lyon reached the landmark in his 101st Test for Australia, averaging 32.07 with 18 five-wicket hauls to his name. Lyon took three more wickets in the England second-innings to end with figures of 4/91 and take his tally to 403.
The bowler had to wait a long, long time to reach the 400-mark. Lyon had started last summer’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India with 390 wickets to his name and was backed to eclipse the big feat in the next four Tests at home.
But in an outstanding effort, Indian batters, especially Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant, countered him supremely and scored at an average of 55.11 for just nine wickets. It was one of the rare series for Lyon at home where he failed to respond to the opposition’s counterattack and plans.
A bowler renowned for his overspin bowling and the ability to take the benign Australian surfaces out of the equation Lyon has taken 204 of his career Test wickets Down Under. In a country where finger spinners have historically found it hard to survive, Lyon’s average of 32.87 with an economy rate of 2.94 stands out.
The 34-year-old bowler is now also the 17th highest Test wicket-taker in the history of the game. Among spinners, he is the seventh-best wicket-taker. In the active spinners’ category, only Ravichandran Ashwin (427 wickets at 24.12) is ahead of him.
