With a simple flick of his fingers, Nathan Lyon moved magically from filthy to feted during today’s morning session in Adelaide, spinning his way into history in the process.
Lyon’s classic off break to dismiss Ben Duckett wasn’t merely a fitting way to move past Glenn McGrath into second place on Australia’s Test wicket-takers list. It also underlined a wider truth about this very good Australian side.
Through three sessions on day one, the hosts never quite managed to bat their opponents out of the game, their innings punctuated by questionable shot selection and a frenzied, almost chaotic approach. With the score reading 8-326, plenty of observers were giving England a points victory at stumps.
Today however, buoyed and no doubt improved by the return of Lyon and Pat Cummins, Australia’s bowlers operated in almost the inverse fashion, putting together the type of relentless group effort upon which they have built their reputation.
It was all quite familiar. In the washup of his side’s second Test defeat in Brisbane, England captain Ben Stokes spoke about his batters’ failure to “absorb pressure”. Stokes had managed to do it across more than a session on day four, but was ultimately dismissed for 52 from 152 balls as Australia patiently squeezed the life out of the visitors.
And so it continued in Adelaide, though this time – on a pitch that held few demons for the Bazballers – it was the presence of Lyon that allowed the home side to apply the chokehold and simply not let go.
The off-spinner had hitherto scarcely been seen in this series, having been strategically omitted for the pink-ball Test in Brisbane and being required for just two overs in Perth.
Yet the occasional sharp turn Will Jacks was able to extract yesterday, plus the sapping Adelaide heat, meant he was always going to be a pivotal figure when it came Australia’s time to bowl in this match.
He received the ball in the 10th over, just after Cummins had taken the early wicket of Zak Crawley, and proceeded to prise out two more Englishman from his first six deliveries. First, he had the hapless Ollie Pope flicking to Josh Inglis at midwicket. Three balls later, a delightful delivery spun past the outside edge of left-hander Duckett’s bat, and clattered into off stump.
Lyon goes past McGrath with two in an over
After his widely-debated axing in Brisbane, and a subsequent television interview in which he told the world he was “absolutely filthy” with the selectors’ decision, it was quite the return.
Lyon wheeled away from the Riverbank End for nine consecutive overs from there, as Stokes and Harry Brook added 56 for the fourth wicket at a run rate of 2.84. During the off-spinner’s first spell, Stokes managed just two from 20 balls faced, evidently desperate to walk his talk about the absorption of pressure.
But Australia’s pressure was unrelenting, and it left Stokes with nowhere to go. Brook had earlier been undone by a beauty from Cameron Green – the hosts’ nominal fifth bowler, and perhaps viewed as a release valve for England – who proceeded to bowl five overs for just 15 runs, maintaining the pressure and allowing Australia’s frontline three quicks more crucial rest time as the temperature hit 40 degrees; at no point did any of them bowl more than a four-over spell.
All of which meant that when Scott Boland returned after tea, he hadn’t been sighted since the final over before drinks in the middle session – more than 90 minutes prior. Immediately the Victorian was on the money, putting together an unerringly accurate pitch map and delivering 17 consecutive dot balls to Will Jacks before getting his man with a classic off cutter.
In commentary, Justin Langer called it “water torture” and as he stood at the non-striker’s end, Stokes might’ve felt that most acutely. By then he had faced more balls than anyone in this series, though a strike-rate barely above 30 has curbed his impact and speaks to a man who looks to have replaced the Bazball bravado for mere survival.
Lyon’s return was doubtless unwelcome for the left-hander, who has been dismissed by him nine times in Tests. And by the time he was joined by No.10 Jofra Archer in the middle, Stokes had collected just seven runs from 55 balls against the off-spinner.
The sight of Stokes and Archer then fighting to piece together a ninth-wicket stand also offered a reminder of another sharp contrast between the Australian and English bowling efforts. Together that pair took five wickets for 106 runs at a tick over 2.5 per over. Yet the visitors’ other three bowlers – Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, and Jacks – simply could not sustain the pressure, managing 4-258 from 52 overs at almost five per over.
And so, Australia’s batters have been able to score more freely through this series than their much-vaunted Bazballing opponents, but make no mistake, it is once again the bowling group who have ensured the hosts hold the whip hand in this fascinating series.
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
