30 Mind-Blowing Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Nathan Lyon

5 December 2019, 1:55 am EST By Ruby Karnick

Nathan Lyon, an off spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman from the Australian national cricket team, till date holds the record for the most Test wickets taken by an Australian off-spin bowler. Here are some facts about the Australian cricketer:

Nicknamed ‘Goat’ by his peers is the acronym of ‘Greatest Of All Time,’ is the right-hand batsman and right-arm off-break bowler.
He was born Nathan Michael Lyon on November 20, 1987, in Young, New South Wales, Australia, to Bronwyn and Steven Lyon. He has a brother Brendan Lyon.
He along with his brother moved to Canberra and played grade cricket for Australian Capital Territory under the guidance of coach Mark Higgs and John Davison.
In 2008, season representing ACT Comets against South Australia 2nd XI in the ‘Baby Bash’ under-23 match in Melbourne, Lyon bowled beautifully to impress Darren Berry, the SA’s T20 coach.
In 2010, ACT coach Ashley Ross, as a high-performance manager in South Australia offered a pathway to success and Lyon ended up finding a job as a curator on the SACA ground staff, giving him proximity to a state side.
Lyon made his Twenty20 Big Bash debut against New South Wales on January 4, 2011, at Adelaide. He had DLR Smith caught and bowled for 45 and went on to claim two wickets in the match.
In his very first season with Southern Redbacks’ he became a sensation as he finished as the leading wicket takers with 11 wickets in 7 matches with an economy of 7.50, including a second best bowling figures of 3 for 14, as South Australia went on to win the competition.
He made his List-A debut for South Australia against Western Australia in the Ryobi One-Day Cup at Perth on February 16, 2011. Though he was economical, he went wicket-less in his 8 overs conceding 38 runs.He ended up playing just two matches, taking 1 wicket in the season.
Lyon made his first-class debut for South Australia against Western Australia at Perth in February 2011, in the Sheffield Shield competition and took 4 for 81 runs in 26 overs and 2 for 119 in 40 overs. He also made useful contribution batting down the order with 37 in the first innings.
He ended his first-class debut season with 12 wickets in 4 matches averaging 43.00 per wickets and with an economy of 2.97 including 4 of 81 as his best bowling figures. He also scored 87 runs in 8 innings with bat.

His exploits in the domestic competition earned him a place in the Australia-A team for the tour of Zimbabwe for Tri-Series and struck form in the very first match claiming 4 wickets for 22 runs in 7 overs to skittle out Zimbabwe XI for 142 and register 90 runs win for Australia-A.
He was declared Player of the Series for the List-A matches, as Australia won the finals defeating South Africa-A,by 2 runs in a thrilling finals. Lyon finished with 11 wickets in 5 innings at an average of 16.63 with an economy of 4.94.
For the inaugural2010-11, Big Bash League, Lyon signed-up with Adelaide Strikers. He got to play two matches and claimed 1 for 46 runs in 6.5 overs.
In the game between New South Wales and Queensland in November 2017, during the Sheffield Shield match, Lyon burnt a piece of toast and in the process setting on the alarm sound which prompted fire trucks to arrive at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. The play was disrupted for about 30 minutes.
For the 2017 County Championship, Worcestershire, signed up Lyon as replacement for John Hastings during the ICC Champions Trophy. He claimed 6 wickets in 6 innings for an average of 67.16 with an economy of 3.06.
Lyon was one of the four uncapped player selected for the 2011 Test Series in Sri Lanka. He was fast traced into Test match within 12 months of rolling the wicket at Adelaide Oval, with just four first-class matches experience.
He made his Test debut in the first-test against Sri Lanka at Galle on August 31, 2011, and claimed his first test wicket with his first delivery on September 1, when he had KC Sangakkara caught by Clarke for 10 runs.
He is the third Australian and seventeenth international player to take a wicket of his very first delivery in Test cricket. He also became 131st player to take five wickets on debut when he claimed 5 for 34 in his first innings.
Lyon became the seventh number-11 batsman in Test cricket to finish as his team’s highest scorer. This happened in the first test against South Africa in November 2011, at Cape Town, when Australia were dismissed for 47 in the second innings, with Lyon contributing 14 runs and stitched a 26 runs 10th wicket partnership with Peter Siddle.
His 7 for 88 in the first test of New Zealand tour of Australia at the Gabba, on December 2011, was the best bowling figures by an Australian off-spinner at the venue. He claimed 4 for 69 in the first innings and 3 for 19 in the second innings.

In the four test series against India in 2012, he claimed 7 wickets in 6 innings at an average of 41.57, with 4 for 63 as his best figures in the innings. He came under criticism from former Australian off-spinner, Ashley Millett, for his ineffectiveness while bowling wide of the stumps.
He was ignored for the first two test of 2013 Ashes series before returning for the final three matches to claim 9 wickets including 4 for 42 on the first day of fourth test match to restrict England to 238 in their first innings.
On December 28, 2013, Lyon became the 35th Australian to collect 100 wickets in Test in his 29th match, when he claimed 5 for 50 in 17 overs during the Boxing Day Test match at MCG, to restrict the fourth innings targets to 231 for victory.
During the 2013-14 Ashes series, Lyon became the second cricketer ever to remain not out in any innings during the five-test series. He scored 60 runs in 6 innings with a strike rate of 52.63. He also claimed 19 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 29.36.
In December 2014, Lyon claimed his first Man of the Match in the first-test at Adelaide, when he claimed his first 10 wicket match haul. He had a figure of 5 for 134 in the first innings and 7 for 152 in the second innings to script Australia’s win.
He was the leading wicket taker in the 2014 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series with 23 wickets in 8 innings at an average of 34.82 with an economy of 3.58.
Lyon dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva, to claim his 200th victim, and became the only Australian off-spinner and only the third non-Asian right arm off-spinners to achieve this feat. He achieved this during the first test against Sri Lanka in July 2016. He went on to record 343 wickets in 86 matches till date.
The phrase ‘Nice Garry’ affectionately called out by wicket keeper Matthew Wade, after every ball, during the South African series stuck with him and elevated him into cult hero status. A Facebook campaign was started for the Boxing-Day Test against Pakistan for the fans to cheer.
In March 2017, in the Bangalore Test match Lyon recorded the best figures by visiting bowlers when he claimed 8 wickets for 50 runs to torment the Indian batsman. In the process he became the highest Australian wicket taker against India and the first to take three-seven wicket hauls against India.
He was named in the Australian squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, currently being held in England & Wales.