Nathan Lyon relishing opportunity to play County Cricket for Hampshire

Nathan Lyon will again be spending next winter in England - this time though he’ll be swapping his baggy green for his first foray into County Cricket under the watchful eye of the Shane Warne Stand.

NSW bowler Nathan Lyon appeals unsuccessfully for LBW during day 3 of the Marsh Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Tasmania at the Drummoyne Oval in Sydney, Sunday, October 20, 2019. (AAP Image/David Gray) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

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Nathan Lyon has signed to tackle English county cricket and a time-honoured journey which national coach Justin Langer laments has suddenly become the road less travelled.

Lyon will be Hampshire’s overseas player in next season’s County Championship where he will play home matches in the shadow of the grandstand named after the county’s other famous Australian spin recruit, Shane Warne.

“I very much look forward to playing with Hampshire in next year’s County Championship,’’ Lyon said.

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Nathan Lyon is heading back to England next year.

“It is a fabulous opportunity to be involved with a leading county who have had a long and successful relationship with Australian cricketers,” Lyon told the Hampshire website.

Langer and many of the players of his generation considered it a crucial part of their development as cricketers and young men that they played lower league then county cricket in England where they learnt to master the vast variety of pitches and conditions in that country.

But a crackdown on visas for overseas players has made it much more difficult for overseas players. There are five ways for a cricketer to qualify for a visa to play in England with Lyon passing most of them because he is a current international.

The 🐐 is here! 🙌

Hampshire Cricket are delighted to announce the signing of @CricketAus off-spinner, Nathan Lyon! ✍️

📝➡️ https://t.co/gt1Vm5HLUr pic.twitter.com/SBCw0bLI1h

— Hampshire Cricket (@hantscricket) November 5, 2019

But the path for up-and-comers has many more hurdles and it would have been much more difficult for the likes of Langer, Matt Hayden and Steve and Mark Waugh to have the English experience that subtly shaped their careers.

“The greatest education for all of them is to play county cricket – it is so hard to do now,’’ Langer told News Corp last week before Lyon’s signing broke.

“I went to England at 18 and played league cricket – which you can’t do these days because of the visas – and I got the opportunity to play at Middlesex for three years. What an education that was.

Shane Warne playing for Hampshire in 2004. Picture: AP/Sean Dempsey

“You saw what it did for Marnus (Labuschagne who made five centuries for Glamourgan before shining in the Ashes).

“When we were in Hampshire Steve Waugh came in as a mentor coach and the first thing he said was “who are those two blokes?’’ and I said “Manus and Cam Bancroft’’ and he said they were the future of Australian cricket.

“They had been playing county cricket and the more they could play the better. That is how you learn. By playing the game. You can spend all the time you like in the nets but there’s nothing like playing the game.’’

Originally published as Nathan Lyon relishing opportunity to play County Cricket for Hampshire