Why Aussies could pull trigger on bombshell Ashes selection shake-up for Gabba
Australian coach Andrew McDonald is keeping his cards close to his chest, but one star of the team is no certainty to take his spot.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald has refused to guarantee Nathan Lyon’s spot in the starting XI for next week’s second Ashes Test in Brisbane, claiming the veteran spinner’s selection was dependent on conditions at the Gabba.
The 38-year-old, who is one wicket away from equalling Glenn McGrath’s career tally of 563 Test scalps, was hardly required during the series opener against England at Perth Stadium, bowling two wicketless overs as fast bowlers wreaked havoc on the bouncy deck.
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England didn’t pick a strike spinner for the first Test and instead fielded an all-out pace attack, which paid dividends when Australia was rolled for 132 in the first innings.
Lyon was controversially dropped for Australia’s most recent day-night Test — July’s Frank Worrell Trophy series finale in Kingston, when the tourists sealed a comfortable 176-run victory after the West Indies were bowled out for 27 in the fourth innings.
During Australia’s previous pink-ball Test — last summer’s ten-wicket victory over India at Adelaide Oval — Lyon only produced one wicketless over in a match dominated by seamers.
Courtesy of Australia’s seaming decks and England’s Bazball approach with the willow — Ben Stokes’ men only batted for 67.3 overs in Perth — not many Tests this summer are expected to reach the fifth day, when conditions best suit spinners
Lyon, who spent time off the field due to a damaged hip during last week’s Perth match, boasts a superb record in pink-ball Tests with 43 scalps at 25.62 — only teammate Mitchell Starc has taken more wickets in day-night contests.
Speaking to reporters on Monday morning, McDonald confessed the national selectors would discuss the possibility of sidelining Lyon for the pink-ball contest, which gets underway on December 4. The off-spinner has played every Test on Australian soil since the 2012 WACA match against India, when the hosts selected four quicks.
“It’s not something that we like doing, it’s not the starting point for anything,” McDonald said of the prospect of dropping Lyon.
”We felt as though in the Perth Test, if that game had been elongated that the spinner would have come in into the Test. It wasn’t to be.
“I don’t think it’s something that we sit here right now and decide upon. It’s something when we get there we look at the conditions, the pink ball and how it goes.
“Will we ask ourselves the question? Of course we will, we do every game.”
McDonald also flagged that Lyon could play a crucial role after the pink Kookaburra softens, something that has frustrated Australia’s seamers during previous day-night Tests at the Gabba.
“If you looked at Australian pink-ball cricket in general terms, the middle sessions have been quite benign and Nathan’s done a lot of work there,” he continued.
“To jump to the conclusion that you’d automatically assume that it’s just going to be another (pace) bowl dominated game, we can’t make those assumptions.”
If national selectors decide to unleash four fast bowlers for the Gabba Test, it would open the door for either Pat Cummins and Michael Neser to join the starting XI, both of which have exceptional records with the pink Kookaburra. Both are also competent batters, capable of adding valuable runs in the lower order.
McDonald also didn’t rule out the potential for Australia to bolster its Ashes squad with an additional fast bowler, particularly if Cummins wasn’t available for selection.
“We didn’t add the 15th player back in on the back of Josh (Hazlewood) and Sean (Abbott’s) injury, so we do have the flexibility there to add one in and make it a 15-person squad,” he continued.
“Will we do that? Potentially. We’ll get a bit of information around what the surface is doing up there, how we potentially may want to balance out the team.
“I’m not saying we will, but I’m not saying we won’t.
“I think that’ll unfold over the next couple of days.”
He added: “(If) Patty comes back in. That obviously adds another one in there also.”
Originally published as Why Aussies could pull trigger on bombshell Ashes selection shake-up for Gabba
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