Ashes: Nathan Lyon awaits record of 400th Test wicket in Brisbane Test

Nathan Lyon is on the verge of completing
400 Test wickets in the ongoing Brisbane Test. The ace Australian off-spinner
has 399 wickets to his credit in 101 Tests.

The 34-year-old needs one more against
England at the Gabba to complete the record haul. He will be only the second
Australian spinner after legendry Shane Warne to achieve the landmark feat.

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Lyon is already Australia’s third-highest
wicket-taker, trailed by Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563).

Currently playing his 101st Test, Lyon has
so far been wicketless in the first innings. But he will have ample opportunities to complete the magnificent feat with England’s first innings underway, and in the second innings, the conditions of the wicket would deteriorate.

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Lyon, who got the much-vaunted baggy green
in August 2011 against Sri Lanka, has moulded himself as an important player of
the Australian team over the years. Since leg-spinner Warne retired in 2007,
Lyon emerged as Australia’s premier spinner. Earlier this year, he became only
the 13th Australian to play 100 Test matches, a career milestone for any
cricketer. However, no Australian off-spinner has entered the 400-wicket club
in Test cricket so far. In fact, no Australian off-spinner managed to scalp 200
wickets in the longest format of the game.

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Currently, Lyon is ranked 17th on the
all-time wicket-takers list and 7th among the spinner. Among the active
spinners, he is only trailed by India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, who took 427
wickets in 81 Tests.

In his career, spanning over a decade, Lyon
took 18 five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket hauls. His best bowling figure in
an innings is 8 for 50 and 13 for 154 in a match.

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Lyon, meanwhile, needs a wicket to complete
100 wickets against England in Test cricket. As of now, only 12 Australian
players have accounted for 100 Test wickets against England. Warne tops the
tally with 195 wickets.