da gbg bet： Entering a second summer as Australia’s No. 1 spinner, Nathan Lyon hasrevealed his struggles to deal with the avalanche of bowling advicefired his way across the first 12 months of his time in the Test team
Daniel Brettig17-Oct-2012
Nathan Lyon now relies on advice from a select group of coaches•Getty Images
Entering a second summer as Australia’s No. 1 spinner, Nathan Lyon hasrevealed his struggles to deal with the avalanche of bowling advicefired his way across the first 12 months of his time in the Test team.One of the side-effects of Lyon’s rapid rise from obscurity to thenational team was that many glimpsed his bowling for the first time inTest matches. A return of 42 wickets at 27.83 from 13 Tests suggestsLyon had a decent enough idea of how to bowl but everyone, it seemed,had an opinion on how he might do better.During the summer Lyon was incredulous to find himself being called bystrangers advising him of how to gain better results against India’sbatsmen. Then, amid a difficult Australia A tour of England on whichLyon’s bowling became “muddled” in the words of the national selectorJohn Inverarity, it is believed he was even offered technicalsuggestions by Mitchell Johnson.Having shown signs in the recent Sheffield Shield match againstTasmania of a return to the tantalising loop, curve and spin thatfirst won him a national spot, Lyon said he was now very careful aboutwho he listened to, keeping the counsel of a small group including theSouth Australia coach Darren Berry and the spin coaches Craig Howardand John Davison.”It’s been pretty difficult to be honest with you,” Lyon toldESPNcricinfo. “To come into the thing and no-one say anything at thestart, then come seven Tests you have people ringing you up and stuff.I’ve been fortunate to have Darren Berry and Craig Howard and JohnDavison on my side, and having that close unit together, really beingable to work with each other.”We’ve got that little group there where we all trust each other andare on the same page heading in the right direction. Everyone hastheir own opinion and stuff, but I’ve really tried to block that outand just worry about working with the people I really trust and knowwhere my game is at and where I need to get to. I just rely on DarrenBerry, Craig Howard and John Davison now really.”Inverarity was concerned by what he saw of Lyon in England, where hewas outdone by the Victorian left-arm spinner Jon Holland. However thenational selectors are determined to persist with Lyon, given thesignificant role he played a critical junctures of the past year, notleast in Sri Lanka, the West Indies and also South Africa, where hetook vital wickets in both innings of the epic Johannesburg Test.”We hold Nathan in very high regard, he’s a bowler with a lovelyaction, he gets drop and bounce and turn,” Inverarity said. “For sixmonths he got a bit muddled and he didn’t bowl well on the A tour, andhe didn’t bowl well in Brisbane [against Queensland]. But in Adelaidehe bowled much better.”On the first day of the Shield game against Tasmania he bowled 30overs, 0 for 90 in round figures. He got [Mark] Cosgrove dropped atmid-on, chest-high. He had [Alex] Doolan mistiming one to point anddropped, he had [Ricky] Ponting missed stumping. So he’s got 3 for 50let’s say, and he might’ve picked up another couple. You can’t do muchmore than deceive someone in flight and they hit it chest high tomid-on.”The ebb and flow of Lyon’s rhythm is something the Australianhierarchy is prepared to roll with for a time, aware that Test matchesaccount for exactly half of his 26 first-class appearances to date.Inverarity offered parallels with the young fast bowler JamesPattinson, who has shown himself to be a bowler of great destructivecapability at his peak, but one of rather more modest results whenrhythm and swing prove elusive.”You’ll often see with fast bowlers it can often be little technicalthings … with Nathan he had a lovely rhythm and good drop and bounceand turn,” Inverarity said. “For whatever reason he lost it, lost hisrhythm, and he got frustrated and then I think he was running in tobowl and he was thinking about where his front arm was and he wasfalling short. He’s practised now and is concentrating on where he’slanding it.”James Pattinson last December bowled superbly, and in Brisbane lastweek he bowled fast, he swung it, was accurate, he was terrific. Inthe West Indies and England he was not the same bowler, he was veryordinary. He lost pace and rhythm and was ordinary. So these thingshappen, particularly with young bowlers.”Irrespective of where his advice is coming from, Lyon knows he mustkeep improving so as to grow into a more senior member of Australia’sbowling attack. It will help that he has a battery of high class fastbowlers around him, plus a captain in Michael Clarke who has the rightsense of how best to use spin as an attacking weapon.”Personal results always help, but we’ve really got a solid bowlinggroup at the moment,” Lyon said. “We’ve got quality fast bowlers,probably the best in the world at the moment, and it’s really goodworking closely with Michael Clarke, he’s fantastic and just beingable to know my role has been a massive help over the last 12 months.”Being able to play in 13 Tests and being involved in 14 Tests wasunbelievable. I’m pretty grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had,but I really need to grab the ones that come my way this summer andreally try to move forward, keep trying to improve and keep trying towin games of cricket for Australia.”