Former Australian batter Michael Hussey expects veteran Nathan Lyon to keep delivering for the team irrespective of the age factor. Lyon, 35, has scalped 479 wickets in 118 Test matches at an average of 31.11.
The off-spinner has been consistently delivering the goods for Australia over the years and has got better with more experience. Lyon has been right on the money in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series against India as he has scalped 19 wickets in three Test matches at an average of 17.95.
The experienced spinner took 11-99 in the third Test match at Indore and played an instrumental role in his team’s convincing nine-wicket win.
Matthew Hussey said on Sen Sportsday, “As long as he wants really. He’s been amazing with his longevity and he’s still pretty young really. He’s got years and years to go, as long as his body keeps holding up. They always say spinners come into their peak into their 30s and maybe into their late 30s, it’s a tough art and I don’t see why he can’t keep going for a long time.”
Lyon returned with figures of 8-64, which is his second-best performance in Test cricket. Thus, the off-spinner was awarded the Player of the Match for his exemplary performance.
Meanwhile, Hussey added he will prefer Matthew Kuhnemann as Australia’s second spinner over Todd Murphy as the left-arm spinner will take the ball away from the right-handers.
Kuhnemann also returned with his career-best figures of 5-16 in the first innings at Indore. Murphy, on the other hand, has taken 11 wickets in three Test matches, including seven wickets on his debut at Nagpur.
Hussey said, “I’ve been really impressed with Murphy, he looks really good. Having said that though, I like to have the balance in the attack where you’ve got one guy spinning it into the right-hander and one guy spinning away. I’d probably lean towards Kuhnemann, but only for that reason that he’s turning the ball in the opposite direction.”
The fourth Test match will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad from Thursday onwards.
