Test spinner Nathan Lyon says Cricket Australia’s decision to cut short his maiden season with Lancashire in the County Championship was a “smart move”, accepting that workload management will become an unwanted necessity over the coming years.
The veteran tweaker signed a one-year deal with Lancashire ahead of the 2024 season, agreeing to play in all competitions for the county side this winter.
However, CA intervened on the eve of the County Championship, blocking Lyon from competing in white-ball competitions and only permitting him eight first-class matches.
“That’s the nature of the beast,” Lyon told BBC Lancashire in April.
“It’s a business now and Cricket Australia have come over the top and said they want to manage me.
“It’s disappointing, because I signed here wanting to play all games and even play some T20 cricket and was thoroughly looking forward to that.
“It is what it is, and my hands are tied.”
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Unlike Australia’s pace bowlers, Lyon has rarely been rested for matches throughout his 13-year international career, playing 100 consecutive Tests between 2013 and 2023.
However, after Lyon sustained a devastating calf injury during last year’s Ashes campaign, CA is expected to manage the 36-year-old’s workload as he approaches the twilight of his Test career.
“The more I think about it now, I’ve got to give George Bailey and Andrew McDonald a lot of credit for them bringing me back at the right time,” Lyon told Fox Cricket this week.
“Obviously Test cricket is my pinnacle, and that’s my absolute goal, to play as much Test cricket I can over the next number of years.
“Smart move by them to bring me back early. Hats off to them.”
Lyon was Lancashire’s leading wicket-taker during the first half of this year’s County Championship, taking 26 scalps at 30.38.
“It was a different experience, but something I thoroughly enjoyed,” Lyon said.
“I was able to be with my family, get away and use our time over in the UK quite smart.
“But cricket-wise it was very enjoyable. Lots of overs, which was good, but all in all a really good experience.”
Although Lyon would jump at the opportunity to sign on for another summer at Lancashire, next year’s Test tour of the West Indies and a potential World Test Championship final could prevent him from returning in 2025.
Before his next Test assignment, the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, Lyon will play at least three Sheffield Shield matches for New South Wales, including the Blues’ season opener against South Australia in Sydney.
Pending fitness and availability, Lyon could be accompanied by national teammates Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins for a Sheffield Shield contest in October.
“I’ll be ready and get raring to go,” Lyon said.
“Any opportunity to have those guys as my bowling partners is pretty special, and but it’s also really good for the competition as well.
“To have the younger guys, someone like Nathan McSweeney from South Australia, come up against the likes of Cummo, Josh and Mitch should be pretty special, a really good test for the younger batters out there.”
Lyon has taken 121 Test wickets against India at 31.56 — only England’s James Anderson boasts more scalps against the Asian nation.
Australia has not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy since the 2014/15 summer when Lyon claimed 12 wickets during an unforgettable victory at Adelaide Oval. However, India has won four consecutive Test series against Australia in the decade since, including historic triumphs in 2018/19 and 2020/21.
“India’s got the wood over us in the past few series, but if you’re looking at the World Test Championship (final) in England, we were able to beat them there, and I know that should give us a bit of confidence heading into (this summer),’’ Lyon said.
“We understand that we’re coming up against a world-class side, but we can take a lot of confidence out of where we are at as an Australian cricket team.
“I feel like we’re on the journey to becoming a great team. We’re not there yet, there’s a bit of work to do, but we have the opportunity to do something pretty special this summer.”
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