Nathan Lyon took two wickets on Day 2 of the third Ashes Test in which Australia took a giant leap towards recording yet another series win over England. In the process, the spinner went past Australia pace legend Glenn McGrath to become the country’s second highest wicket-taker of all time in Test history.
Lyon now has 564 wickets to his name in 141 Tests while McGrath retired with 563 in 124. The only player above Lyon now is the late great Shane Warne, who ended his illustrious career with 708 wickets in 145 Tests. McGrath was at the Adelaide Oval, commentating on the proceedings when Lyon broke the record. Cricket.com.au posted a video of him jokingly proceeding to smash a chair in frustration after it happened.
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Lyon had been stuck on 562 wickets for five months, with Australia leaving him out in two of their last three Tests. In the one Test that he did play, the first match of this year’s Ashes in Perth, Lyon bowled just two overs. On Thursday, Lyon struck twice in his first over itself in a devastating. The first was a gift from Ollie Pope, who flicked a full delivery outside off in the air straight into the hands of midwicket. Lyon then got Ben Duckett out with the last ball of the over with a ripper. The delivery pitched on off stump and spun right past the bat to take the top of off stump.
Lyon is now the sixth highest wicket taker of all time in Test cricket. Above him are Stuart Broad (604 wickets), Anil Kumble (619), James Anderson (704), Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralidaran (800). Lyon’s reaction to being left out of the pink-ball Test last week had gone viral. The veteran spinner made no efforts to hide his frustration at having been dropped. Australia coach Andrew McDonald reiterated after Australia won the Test that spin remains important for them. “I’ll make this a headline, we still do value spin,” McDonald said. “We want the spinner down one end and rotating the three quicks. That’s when we feel like we’re at our best.”
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