Pat Cummins heaps praise on off-spinner Nathan Lyon for playing 100th Consecutive Tests
Australia captain Pat Cummins praised off-spinner Nathan Lyon prior to the second Test of the Ashes 2023, which begins on Wednesday, June 28, at Lord’s. At Lord’s, Lyon will compete in his 100th straight Test, a mark that has never been accomplished by another spinner in cricket history.
The 35-year-old has participated in 121 Tests for Australia since making his debut in 2011 against Sri Lanka. Speaking before the second Test, Cummins praised his colleague and noted that his excellent fitness and form are a credit to his longevity.
“It’s a testament to not only how good Nath is in terms of longevity and fitness and form, but to be able to play 100 Tests means you’re getting picked in all conditions,” Australia skipper Pat Cummins was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
Pat Cummins heaps praise on off-spinner Nathan Lyon for playing 100th Consecutive Tests
The Australian captain continued by claiming that Lyon has been able to break into the starting lineup even in challenging environments like Brisbane’s Gabba.
“I know at the start of his career, you’d talk about (possibly playing) four quicks at the Gabba but he’s just so valuable to our team that I couldn’t imagine a side without Nath in there,” he added.
Nathan Lyon achieves rare historic milestone in Test cricket
Lyon’s appearance in the Lord’s game is his 100th consecutive appearance in Test cricket. This earns him an entrance into an exclusive grouping, one which has only five more players as a part of it.
He is now only the sixth player, and the first-ever bowler, to play 100 consecutive Tests. Other players in the list are Alastair Cook (159), Allan Border (153), Mark Waugh (107), Sunil Gavaskar (106) and Brendon McCullum (101).
In 121 Test matches over the course of his career, Lyon boasts 495 wickets at an average of 30.99. The off-spinner is Australia’s third-highest wicket-taker in history, trailing only legends Shane Warne (708 wickets) and Glenn McGrath (563) in that regard. Additionally, with 88 wickets from 20 matches during the World Test Championship cycle 2021–2023, he was the top wicket-taker.
The spinner, who was born in New South Wales, was Australia’s first-choice bowler in the first Test of the 2023 Ashes, taking eight wickets and recording statistics of 4/149 and 4/80 in two innings.
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