The Ashes 2025 second Test day one LIVE updates: Mitchell Starc runs riot again with two wickets in two overs to start Gabba Test
As Travis Head confirms he’ll open the batting and we await the final XI at the toss, Tom Decent touched on the precarious position spin bowling finds itself in Australia last week – in anticipation of this exact scenario.
These are strange times for spin bowling in Australia. The mix of a pink ball, a Gabba surface historically friendly to seam bowling, and England’s unshakeable Bazball blueprint leaves Lyon’s spot in the XI up for discussion – even after an eight-wicket win inside two days.
Nathan Lyon had a very quiet first Test in Perth, after a very quiet 2024-25 summer.Credit: Getty Images
Lyon, with 140 matches in the baggy green, has not been dropped for a home Test since January 2012, when Australia played four quicks – Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc and Ben Hilfenhaus – in Perth against India. In July, he was omitted for the third Test against the West Indies in Kingston – the first time since the 2013 Ashes he had been left out of an Australian XI when fit.
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He carried the drinks that week in Jamaica during a pink ball game, bowled two overs in Perth last week as England were skittled twice, and might be surplus to requirements in Brisbane.
What does that say about the future of spin bowling in Australia? And what does it say that Joe Root’s part-time off-spin, with similar offerings from batting all-rounder Will Jacks, is all England think they need?
“Joe Root as your national team spin bowler would make anyone who cares about cricket cry. It’s so totally embarrassing,” Stuart MacGill says. “How haven’t they cultivated other spinners?
“However, I don’t think we’ve done a good enough job developing our own spin bowlers.“
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