Lyon struck twice in his first over of the Adelaide Test to go past a legend
Tributes flow as Lyon overtakes McGrath’s Test wickets haul
Champion off-spinner Nathan Lyon has moved into outright sixth place on the all-time Test wicket-taker’s list after overtaking pace legend Glenn McGrath’s 563 scalps.
Lyon’s dismissals of firstly Ollie Pope and then Ben Duckett leaves only the immortal Shane Warne (708) ahead of him in terms of Australians.
Pope tried to flick Lyon through the leg-side but hit the ball towards Josh Inglis, who took a good low catch at midwicket.
Lyon then produced a beauty to clean bowl Duckett for his 564th wicket, who tried to defend but couldn’t protect his off stump.
Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralidaran (800), England’s James Anderson (704) and Stuart Broad (604) and India’s Anil Kumble (619) are the only other bowlers in the format’s history with more wickets than the 38-year-old Lyon.
It’s fitting that Lyon’s latest piece of history takes place at the Adelaide Oval, the venue he was a curator before becoming a full-time cricketer and also the ground he played his first professional match, for South Australia in the state-based T20 competition.
Earlier in the week, Lyon’s plaque was unveiled at the Oval’s ‘Avenue of Honour’, commemorating his 12-wicket performance here during the 2014 Test against India.
Lyon’s 64 wickets the most at the ground, with Shane Warne (56) and Mitch Starc (55) making up the podium.
“Maybe it would be like a fairy tale,” Lyon said on Monday about the impending milestone.
“When you look at my history here, with working here, dreaming of playing Test cricket.
“My first ever Test here was on the roller, back in 2010 and funnily enough, against England.
“So for me to potentially overtake McGrath would be pretty incredible.”
It’s been a long time coming for Lyon, who has been left out of Australia’s XI in two of the previous three Tests before this one.
With McGrath’s record within touching distance, Australia played four quicks in the pink-ball Jamaica Test in July while Lyon ran the drinks.
He was only required to bowl two (wicketless) overs during the hectic two-day Perth Test that opened the Ashes series and wasn’t selected for the Gabba day-nighter that followed.
Lyon made his Test debut in 2011 after playing only four matches in two months of Sheffield Shield cricket, getting the nod ahead of Michael Beer for the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.
He took the prized scalp of SL legend Kumar Sangakkara with his first ball in Test cricket and has become a central figure to the Australian side for well over a decade.
He played 100 consecutive Tests before his serious calf injury in England in 2023 and has consistently that he sees himself on Australia’s tour to India and the UK in 2027.
2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men’s Ashes
First Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets
Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT
Australia squad (third Test only): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue
