GOAT and the kid: Nathan Lyon to groom spin heir Tanveer Sangha

Nathan Lyon isn’t going anywhere fast but what he does next has to potential to determine Australia’s success with the turning ball for a long time to come.

ATTN Strict Embargo until 5pm Thursday 21/10/21......, Sneak peak of the Allan Border sculpture.

Nathan Lyon will go down as one of Australia’s greatest Test match bowlers, but the next part of his legacy might be to help groom his successor — a mission which officially starts on Wednesday.

After starring last summer in the Big Bash, spin prodigy Tanveer Sangha is set to make his first-class debut for NSW alongside Lyon against Victoria at Drummoyne Oval.

Sangha is so highly regarded as a future Australian leg-spinner that selectors took him on the recent white-ball tour of the West Indies and Bangladesh, and his arrival onto the Sheffield Shield scene comes at a time when the search for the heir to Lyon’s throne is becoming more urgent by the day.

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Spin prodigy Tanveer Sangha will play his first Sheffield Shield match against Victoria. Picture: Toby Zerna

Lyon is not going anywhere fast and as a spinner could play for several more years yet at Test level.

But as he approaches his 34th birthday, Australia’s succession planning must start now with a void beneath Lyon in the Shield ranks and big subcontinental tours of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India on the horizon where a spin twin will be needed.

Sangha might have made a name for himself as a T20 star, but his No.1 goal is Test cricket and he’s determined to make the most of his time with Lyon as he chases his baggy green dream.

“If I had to choose one thing (for my career), it’s to play Test cricket,” Sangha said.

“I’ve already trained with Gaz (Lyon), and I can tell how smart and experienced he is. It’ll be even better to play with him and see how he goes about it in a game.

“That’s the way I’ve got to think about it — after Gaz there’s not too many other Test spinners going around on the Australian platform.

Australia's Nathan Lyon has taken Sangha under his wings as he helps fast-track the young spinner’s development.

“I guess it’s such a difficult job to do, bowling so many overs especially in difficult conditions where it’s hot and humid and doing it consistently. I definitely reckon there’s something for me to set a goal or have my hopes on.

“If I play some of the Shield games and take a couple of wickets, you never know.

“When Gaz goes away towards the Ashes, I might be the only bowler for NSW, so whatever experience and time I spend with him now will be invaluable.”

NSW’s preparation for the start of their Shield season against Victoria has been unconventional at best, with Lyon billeting two Blues players at his house who were living in locked down LGAs, so that they could continue to train.

When Sangha returned home from Bangladesh he was stuck in his Covid-affected suburb of Ingleburn in Sydney’s west and had no choice but to train alone or with his dad on the cement block wickets he grew up on as a kid at Ingleburn RSL.

After Lyon there is a shortage in the spinning ranks.

Sangha has made a name for himself in the T20 ranks

Only since freedom day on October 11 has Sangha joined his Blues teammates, but believes his experiences bowling alongside Adam Zampa and Mitchell Swepson on Australia’s overseas tour has made him a better spinner coming into this summer.

“It was wonderful. I absolutely loved the experience and seeing how professional the T20 specialists are,” said Sangha, who following in the footsteps of Usman Khawaja before him would like to be a role model for young players with South Asian backgrounds.

The opportunity is wide open for a spinner wanting to step up as Lyon’s No.2 and for teenager Sangha, the apprenticeship starts now.

“I see how hard he is on himself when he is training and how simple he also keeps it,” said Sangha.

“I always like how he talks about bowling your best ball no matter which batsman it is. Your best ball is always going to be good enough.”

How an English legend inspired AB’s great honour

— Robert Craddock

Cricket’s man of steel Allan Border will be immortalised in bronze after a group of mates and greats declared it time to salute his legacy.

England’s Ashes tourists will be confronted by a statue of Border when they arrive at the Gabba for the first Test in December after a single sentence from Border’s old mate Ian Botham in a podcast sparked a secret campaign that has delivered the overdue monument.

“I am very proud but suitably embarrassed,’’ Border quipped in typically understated fashion.

“People acknowledge your efforts but you never expect a statue outside the Gabba. I’m embarrassed but very grateful at people putting in. It’s a special feeling.’’

A sneak peak of the Allan Border sculpture that will feature at the Gabba.

This is a statue story with a difference involving the collective pull of a few mates, two cricket legends, 25 people who quietly tipped in $5000 plus some donations from Queensland and NSW Cricket, Cricket Australia and a final nod from the Queensland Government and Stadiums Queensland.

The project was started by Brisbane businessman and former Queensland Australian of the Year David Conry who was listening to a Howie Games podcast when Botham told host Mark Howard “AB deserves a statue at every ground in Australia.’’

“I thought ‘there actually isn’t a statue of him anywhere – it’s very overdue,’’ Conry said.

“I rang (Fox Sports executive director) Steve Crawley who said “we have to get Shane Warne involved – he loves AB’’ then Warne said “we’ve got to get Ian Botham.’’

Border with England great, and the inspiration behind the statute, Sir Ian Botham. Pic: Sam Tabone

Crawley, part of organising committee featuring Warne, Botham, former Powderfinger front man Bernard Fanning and Queensland Cricketers Club president David Cook, said “it came together amazingly quickly … I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love AB and the fact it is an Ashes year makes it more special.’’

Project organisers felt it would be out of kilter with Border’s humble nature to ask for government funding or to go cap in hand to the public so the project was assembled in dignified privacy, initially without Border even knowing about it.

“It was secretive stuff,’’ Border said.

“They did a lot with (Border’s wife) Jane and by the time I found out about it was basically “this is what we are doing … it doesn’t matter what you think’’. Once you get the two David’s (Conry and Cook) fired up there is no stopping them. It was like a runaway train.’’

Border with sculptor Linda Klarfeld (centre) and wife Jane.

Conry said the statue, likely to be unveiled on December 7, the day before the first Ashes Test, will be placed in a park outside the game’s western entrance and will be temporarily relocated to Allan Border Field when the Gabba is redeveloped for the Olympics.

“We had to raise over $150,000 and did not want to ask the government because we felt we could do it ourselves. We needed their support to put it at the Gabba and the Sports Minister Stirling Hinchliffe and Cathy McGuane from Stadiums Queensland could not have been more helpful.’’

Border plays a pull shot in his heyday.

Border chose the shot he is playing and while the full picture will not be known until the unveiling, glimpses of a limited release of photos reveal to be off the front foot.

Border loaned renowned Gold Coast sculptor Linda Klarfeld one of his famous Duncan Fearnley bats and she was so concerned about not losing it she put it beside her bed when she slept.

“It was an amazing experience for me because I remember Allan from my childhood so it was a bit like one of those “people you would like to have to dinner’’ experiences,’’ Klarfeld said of Border who made several visits to the Gold Coast to assist with the project.

“He is very focused with a detailed mind. Everything had to be right. The angle of the bat, the pose. We had to be historically correct. The shoes were more simple then than now. Pads were squarer.’’

Australia cricket captain Allan Border (l) and David Hookes in 1985.

When first viewing the final clay model Border took the sculptor aback when he said in mock horror “what have you done? … that’s not me’’ but then pricked the tension by declaring “that’s me when I was 30.’’

“Linda did a great job – she asked 1000 questions and took 1000 photos and right down to the creases in the pants, the detail was exceptional … it’s me.’’

And that was all it had to be.