Nathan Lyon is full of confidence heading into the Ashes and it’s showing off the field

THIS time last year Nathan Lyon’s place in the Test team was shaky, but the off-season is now brimming with confidence he has taken to goading England players past and present.

Nathan Lyon has an outstanding record at the Gabba. Picture: AAP

NATHAN Lyon was so short of confidence this time last summer, his place in the Test team was anything but secure.

Twelve months on and the off-spinner is goading past and present England players with the sort of vigour usually ­reserved for pace bowlers who have the venomous arsenal to back up the chat.

Lyon turned 30 on Monday, the day he talked about “ending careers” and “scared batsmen” — which sent the English media, and a few former players, into a spin.

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It’s the confidence that comes from taking 46 wickets in seven Tests this year, including five five-wicket hauls. Lyon is now the potential matchwinning spinner Australia needs.

The Gabba was Shane Warne’s favourite pitch — no one has taken more Test wickets there. And despite Australian decks usually offering little for tweakers, Lyon has also had fun in Brisbane.

Of his 269 Test scalps, the most by an Australian off-spinner, Lyon has taken 26 in six Tests at the Gabba.

Nathan Lyon has revived his career in the past year. Picture: AFP

Take out last year’s two-wicket return against Pakistan, when he was in a slump, and Lyon has not taken fewer than four wickets in any of his past five Tests in Brisbane.

He took seven on his Gabba debut against New Zealand in 2011, and is 10th on the list of all-time Australian wicket-takers at the venue.

No wonder former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior was so keen to bite back this week.

Lyon dismissed Prior in both innings in Brisbane in 2013, for a duck and four. He has 44 wickets in 13 Tests against the old enemy.

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Darren Berry, who first picked Lyon for the South Australian team when he was Redbacks coach and has become a mentor, said the spinner was “flat as a tack” leading into last summer, despite taking 18 wickets in the preceding 3-0 series loss in Sri Lanka.

“But to his eternal credit, and why he is so good, his character has shown through,’’ Berry said.

“He persisted when the whole world was against him and it looked like his spot in the team was in jeopardy.

“He worked hard, with me and (national spin coach) John Davison. I think he has great character, and that’s why it’s held him in good stead and the confidence has grown enormously.”

Berry conceded it was “unusual” for Lyon to drop bombs like he did this week.

“But he’s obviously pretty confident with where his game is at,” Berry said.

Mitchell Starc has not played a Test since March, fellow quick Pat Cummins has never played more than two Tests in a row, and there’s no all-rounder, so Lyon should shoulder plenty of the workload.

But former Test captain ­Michael Clarke said he hoped Lyon would not be used just to “bowl dot balls”.

“Because he’s so good now, he’s an attacking weapon, he can take wickets,” Clarke said this week.

Clarke said Lyon was in ­career-best form.

Originally published as Nathan Lyon is full of confidence heading into the Ashes and it’s showing off the field