George Bailey admits ‘absolutely filthy’ Nathan Lyon fought against shock second Test axing
Selection chair George Bailey has revealed the dramatic eleventh-hour discussions that saw Nathan Lyon dropped - which left the veteran spinner absolutely fuming.
Nathan Lyon was left “absolutely filthy” with his Test axing after Australian selectors opted to choose Michael Neser ahead of the veteran off-spinner, having also been weighing up the return of Pat Cummins as late as Wednesday night.
But Aussie selection chair George Bailey has guaranteed the veteran off-spinner will return for the third Test, while all but confirming that Cummins would be right to go for the Adelaide Oval clash.
Once Cummins had been ruled out of the second Test, selectors instead weighed up picking extra seamer Neser, or Lyon, who was eventually dropped in a lineball call settled after a final pitch inspection on Thursday. It was the first time the tweaker had been omitted for a Test in Australia since early 2012, but it was the second time in three Tests that he had been left out, with the Aussies having also gone in with four frontline quicks for a day-night Test at Sabina Park in July.
That decision was billed by selector on duty Tony Dodemaide as a “one-off” and while lightning has now struck twice for Lyon, 38, Bailey insisted that the Gabba call was also conditions-based but not down to a single factor, notwithstanding Lyon has been sparingly used in several Tests on Australian soil in recent seasons.
“Very much it’s a one Test decision, Nath will play in Adelaide,” Bailey said.
“It’s just how you think you’re going to structure up the resources and how it’s going to be used when it gets dark here, when you think you’re going to be using seam bowlers, how many overs get bowled all day? When do you think new ball is going to be available?”
Bailey conceded that Lyon had not been rapt with the decision.
“Don’t think he agreed with it, and that’s fine,” Bailey said.
“I think Beau Webster’s also in the same boat. That was heavily debated around whether (Josh) Inglis and Webster, Neser and Webster, all those were heavily debated.
“Nathan will disagree with the decision, and that’s perfectly OK. I think he disagreed with the decision in Jamaica, and that’s perfectly okay. I have no qualms about players feeling like they can impact the game. And the fact the matter is he could have.”
Speaking later in the day on Channel 7, Lyon detailed the extent of his disappointment.
“Absolutely filthy, but yeah, can’t do anything about it so hope I can play my role in making sure I get the guys ready and do whatever I can to make sure that we get the right result here,” Lyon said.
“To be honest I haven’t really sat down with Ronnie (coach Andrew McDonald) or George yet. I’m letting things settle down in my own head and trying to make sure that I’m, as I said, doing whatever I can to make sure the guys out in the middle representing Australia do the right thing and get the right result for us.”
Bailey was meanwhile adamant that Australia had not been playing “silly buggers” when it came to the saga of whether Cummins would feature in the pink-ball clash at the Gabba.
Only after a final discussion on match eve did the Aussie selectors decide against picking Cummins, so impressed had they been with his progress from a back injury.
But mindful that he would have had to be on restricted bowling loads, selectors decided the risks of overloading other players were too great, instead paving the way for Cummins to return at Adelaide Oval, as has long been mooted.
Bailey said that it had been a case of “the longer, the better” for Cummins’ rehabilitation from his back bone stress issue, but that the panel had been tempted to pick the paceman from outside the 14-man squad.
“It really changed through the week. And then risk tolerance, I guess that became the conversation around, what could he take on, and what would it look like? And that, that was the conversation that was being had,” Bailey said on day one of the second Test.
Bailey meanwhile said selectors never reached a point where they made a definitive call on whether Usman Khawaja would have kept his spot in the Australian XI for this match, from which the opener was eventually ruled out with a back injury.
Bailey also confirmed that quick Spencer Johnson was all but out of the running for the Twenty20 World Cup given his ongoing back issues.
All-rounder Webster will line up for Australia A against the England Lions at Allan Border Field, starting on Friday.
Australia A team: Matthew Renshaw, Campbell Kellaway, Nathan McSweeney (c), Cooper Connolly, Beau Webster, Josh Philippe (wk), Xavier Bartlett, Fergus O’Neill, Jhye Richardson, Todd Murphy, Ryan Hadley
Originally published as George Bailey admits ‘absolutely filthy’ Nathan Lyon fought against shock second Test axing
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