Lift or lose your spot: Warne turns up the heat on Lyon

Leg-spin great Shane Warne has put Nathan Lyon on notice, declaring the man dubbed ‘the GOAT’ is in danger of being put out to pasture if he does not lift for the Ashes.

With 10 years of service and 399 Test wickets, Australia’s most prolific finger-spinner has plenty of credits in the bank but in Warne’s eyes they are almost exhausted after being mastered by India last summer.

Unrivalled for five years as Australia’s premier tweaker, Lyon could not spin his country to victory in the final innings of both the Sydney and Brisbane Tests, his series average of 55 his worst since the 2016-17 campaign against South Africa where he was almost deposed by Stephen O’Keefe.

Lyon’s understudy Mitchell Swepson has the support of former selection chair Trevor Hohns, who had been eager to blood the Queenslander under his watch, while Warne has thrown up leg-spin prodigy Tanveer Sangha and white-ball specialist Adam Zampa as alternatives should the incumbent’s lean patch continue.

Warne can often disagree with selectors on big-name players, as seen in his constant criticism of Mitchell Starc, but his views on Lyon over the years have generally been measured, with due consideration given to his performances.

The Australians have not played a Test since the India series, so it remains to be seen if Lyon’s form 12 months ago was an aberration or the start of his decline.

Shane Warne has turned the heat up on Nathan Lyon, saying the off-spinner’s Test berth is up for grabs if he does not lift in the Ashes.Credit:Getty Images

The stats may be damning for Lyon, who has no designs on retirement despite turning 34 last month, but Warne is judging the offie by how he is bowling rather than the number in the wickets column.

“If he’s doing really well and they’re dropping catches and he’s not having much luck, then he keeps playing,” Warne told the Herald and The Age at the launch of Fox Cricket’s Ashes coverage on Thursday.

“But if he bowls like he did last summer and bowls poorly, then you’ve got to make the change pretty quickly.”

Selectors have tended to err on the side of giving players one game too many rather than too few, particularly when they are stalwarts. In the cases of Aaron Finch and David Warner at the Twenty20 World Cup, their faith was handsomely rewarded. It indicates something would have to go drastically wrong for Lyon to be axed during the Ashes.

Australia’s vaunted attack came under widespread criticism for its failure to bowl the team to victory in Sydney and Brisbane, but a post-mortem of the series found the demise was the result of dropped chances, a view publicly aired by Lyon and selection chair George Bailey.

Even if the wickets dried up for Lyon, he kept the scoring down with an economy rate of 2.65 runs per over against India.

Hohns wants to see the industrious Swepson, first picked in a Test squad in 2017, get a crack at the top level, though his retirement as a selector means other voices will have to take up that fight.

“He has worked and worked on his bowling and his action, grooving his action to get to where he is today, and he deserves anything that comes his way because of his hard work,” Hohns said.

“He had a wonderful season for Queensland last year, and he’s at the stage where in my mind he’s ready for international cricket and a great backup for Nathan Lyon if anything was to happen to Nathan.”

Warne is also an admirer of Sangha and Zampa. “Three good wrist-spinners to take wickets at domestic level to put pressure on Nathan Lyon, it also gives an option to the selectors,” Warne said.

“If they ever wanted to play two spinners, they have got someone there. If they felt Nathan Lyon’s form doesn’t warrant selection and he bowls like he did last year then they’ll be looking to replace him.

“We’ve got three spinners there that could come in and make their debut for a Test match if Lyon’s form continues to slide. Let’s hope it doesn’t.”

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