Lyon’s hope for another Adelaide 'fairytale' in Ashes comeback

Nathan Lyon expects his quest to topple another Australian cricket great to be challenged by an aggressive England as the recalled veteran issued a wider plea for spin not to become an afterthought in Test cricket.

While one of the flag-bearers of the faltering Bazball brand today admitted it may be necessary to occasionally rein in their aggressive instincts, Lyon believes England will still come hard at him in his expected return in Adelaide as he attempts to go past Glenn McGrath's tally of 563 Test wickets.

This week's third NRMA Insurance Test at the ground where Lyon cut his teeth as a curator before his rapid ascension to international cricket shapes as a poignant one. The 38-year-old remains two scalps away from going past McGrath into outright second on Australia's all-time leading wicket-takers list behind Shane Warne.

"I daresay it would be like a little fairy tale, I guess, with my history here," Lyon told reporters as the South Australia Cricket Association unveiled a commemorative plaque of the bowler along their 'Avenue of Honour' behind Adelaide Oval's Member’s Stand.

"My first ever Test match here was on the roller here back in 2010 funnily enough against England. So for me to potentially overtake Glenn McGrath (here) would be pretty incredible."

Lyon has since played 14 of his 140 Tests at Adelaide Oval as the iconic ground has become his most successful; no bowler has taken more than his 63 wickets (at 25.36) here.

And although Australia have insisted their frontline slow bowler is set for a major role not only here but also in Melbourne and Sydney, this week's match comes as his own role in the side has diminished considerably in recent times.

Lyon has been dropped for two of Australia's past three Tests (both in pink-ball games) while he only bowled two overs in the Ashes opener in Perth. It means he has sent down fewer than 10 overs in four of the past 10 Tests (three in Australia, one in the Caribbean, all on seam-friendly wickets) he has been picked for.

England have not picked a specialist spinner at all in this series and Lyon expressed his surprised they have overlooked Shoaib Bashir in favour of allrounder Will Jacks, who played in Brisbane after they picked an all-seam attack in Perth.

"You're asking a spinner – I think it's incredibly important," Lyon said when asked about the value of slow bowling in Test cricket.

"I think the variation in Test cricket, understanding that Test cricket goes for five days, and there's a lot of opportunity for pitches to wear and spinners to be able to produce their craft.

"I've always said as soon as the ball spins, there's more eyes on TVs. You look at when we go over to India, you look at the conditions there and the exciting cricket when the ball is spinning, how many people pay attention to it.

"Spin is incredibly important in the game of cricket, in junior cricket, in first-class cricket, in white ball, red ball – it doesn't matter what format."

Lyon looks certain to return this week after his omission in Brisbane, with two of Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett and Michael Neser likely to make way given captain Pat Cummins will also play.

Turf boss Damien Hough's declaration that he "doesn't want to be the curator at Adelaide where you don't pick a spinner" suggests his drop-in pitch should turn after the extra moisture left under the surface is baked out by the first two days' warm weather.

It bodes well for a bowler who hopes he can replicate his memorable 12-wicket Test against India in 2014 that was immortalised in the SACA's commemorative panel on Monday.

Lyon is also now desperate to make his first real impact in an Ashes Test in two-a-half years.

His involvement on the 2023 England tour was cut short when he suffered a series-ending calf injury at Lord's, while he bowled only two overs when picked for the two-day Perth Test last month.

His absence from that drawn 2023 series became one of the epic campaign's great 'what-ifs'; he took eight wickets in Australia's two-wicket win in the opening Test at Edgbaston, but also went at more than four runs per over.

Brook, after vowing to take Lyon on in that Birmingham Test, then went out to him in both innings. Speaking on Monday, England's No.5, chastened by what he termed "shocking" dismissals in the first two Tests of this series, was more circumspect when outlining his plan for the spinner.

"He's obviously an extremely highly skilled bowler," said Brook, who arrived in Australia as the ICC's No.2 ranked Test batter but has since dropped below Steve Smith to No.4.

"He's persistent, he takes a lot of load off their fast bowlers, so we'll obviously try to be aggressive against him and try and put him under pressure.

"But that may not be trying to hit sixes and fours all the time, we might have to rotate strike as much as possible. Stay in the moment as much as possible, and read the situations, read the pitch and play it accordingly."

That Lyon has not spent anything significant time bowling to England's gung-ho top-order since June 2023 means he is somewhat unsure exactly how he will be treated in his return.

But with England coach Brendon McCullum on Sunday outlining his expectation that Adelaide would be the venue most suited to his charges so far in this series, it appears certain the visitors will not let Lyon dictate terms.

"Harry's a world class batter. You look at their whole batting lineup, there seems to be some decent superstars in that lineup, so it's going to be a good challenge," said Lyon.

"I'm not really sure – I've bowled two overs this whole series. I haven't really had the opportunity to my teeth into this test series yet, but that opportunity will hopefully come soon.

"But I'm expecting guys to take me on, yeah."

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (third Test only): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue