Nathan Lyon has played a decreased role for Australia in recent home assignments.
Nathan Lyon was left out of the Australia XI for the second Ashes 2025 Test in Brisbane since Australia wanted an additional pacer. It was a bold move, which obviously didn’t please Lyon himself either, but Michael Neser, who replaced him, proved the decision correct with a magnificent spell in the second innings.
Since his omission, Lyon’s decreased role in the Test setup, even at home, has been noticeable – the veteran spinner has bowled only two overs in the Ashes 2025 so far, and Australia still have a 2-0 lead. At the Gabba, he was excluded from a home Test for the first time since 2012.
However, Australia’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, has hinted that Nathan Lyon will be back for the last three Ashes 2025 Tests, putting massive trust in his abilities. While talking to reporters, he explained that the pitches have negated the ace spinner’s threat in Australian conditions, but expects him to hold one end with his skilful bowling in the coming games.
“The surfaces have pushed us in different directions. That’s the first game that Nathan’s missed in Australia for a long time. Has his impact been as great as in previous seasons with the surfaces that we’re playing on? Potentially not. I think Nathan is going to have an incredibly huge impact in the last three Test matches. We want the spinner down one end and rotate three weeks. That’s when we feel like we’re at our best.”
The recent two exclusions for Nathan Lyon have been in Day-Night Tests, which Australia indicated might continue in future. Lyon’s recent usage in Pink Ball Tests explains it: he wasn’t required at all in Ashes 2021/22, bowled only six balls against India last year, and Australia required only a solitary over of Travis Head’s spin in the recent Gabba Test Lyon missed.
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A key reason has also been the drastic change in pitches, which have excessively favoured pacers and hardly required spinners, even in Melbourne and Sydney. For instance, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 saw only 255.3 overs of spin, the lowest in a five-match series in Australia since 2000, with pacers bowling around 79.62% of the total overs.
During the 2024/25 season, Nathan Lyon delivered only 122.4 overs, the lowest ever at home, and 163.1 overs in 2021/22, the third-lowest in his whole career. There’s a massive chance that he will end up breaking his last season’s all-time low record this time after almost being unused in the first two games.
As McDonald confirmed, skills have not been an issue with Lyon – it has never been – but a change in strategy, which has forced them to use more pace-friendly decks, has compelled them to take harsh calls. That said, he will still be crucial for Australia in the remaining three Ashes 2025 games, where his accurate bowling will allow a break for speedsters between the spells on decks suiting him slightly.
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