Nathan Lyon has leapt to the defence of George Bailey after Steve Waugh took a swipe at Australia’s selection chairman ahead of the first Ashes Test, while calling for calm around the highly acclaimed but ageing bowling unit.
Speaking prior to the announcement of Australia’s 15-man squad for the Perth Test, which was named on Wednesday, Waugh said Bailey would have to make some difficult calls on veterans and suggested the selection chief hadn’t had the gumption to do so at times in the past.
“George Bailey’s going to have to make some tough calls, and I think in the past he hasn’t really had the appetite for that at times, so he’s going to have to step up to the plate with the other selectors because it is a time of transition,” Waugh said ahead of the Perth Test, beginning on November 21.
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“I’d like to see the selectors pick the sides — not the players. There’s been a lot of players recently picking sides and saying who should be in the team. That’s the selectors’ job.”
David Warner’s Test retirement tour, which was allowed to carry on despite consistently poor returns with the bat, was a source of raging debate.
And there are doubts over the quality of the fast bowlers waiting for their time behind Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland, and whether enough has been done to aid the next crop’s progress.
But there are also many examples of Bailey making tough calls, among which was the shock decision to drop Lyon for the third Test against the West Indies in July and instead go with a four-pronged pace attack.
Nathan Lyon. ICC via Getty Images
Lyon revisited that stunning selection decision in his response to Waugh’s criticism.
“I had a really hard conversation with Tony Dodemaide, Andrew McDonald and Pat regarding that last Test match, so I don’t necessarily agree with that,” Lyon said.
“I feel like the selectors at the moment within the current set-up have been really clear with their messages and they’re willing to make hard calls. I was the one who received that hard conversation, so I know what it feels like.
“I feel like our relationship and communication with the coaches and selectors and the players is really strong, and that’s incredibly important.”
The three quicks set to be picked for the first Test — Hazlewood, Starc and Boland — are 34, 35 and 36 respectively.
Hazlewood, who’s been riddled with soft-tissue injuries in recent years, will turn 35 in January, while Starc will turn 36 in the same month.
Cummins, who will miss the opening Test due to a back injury, is 32.
At 37, Lyon is older than all of them.
But even with 562 Test wickets to his name, the prolific off-spinner says his best cricket is ahead of him.
He’s also made it clear he wants to return to England for the 2027 Ashes series.
“The game has totally changed,” Lyon said.
“The game is a lot more professional than what it was even 10 years ago when I started. The science behind it all, the recovery, the way that players and the athletes look after themselves and the work they do outside hours to make sure they’re putting hours in to get their bodies right [have all advanced].
“I feel like age is just a number. I feel like I’m still yet to play my best cricket.”
The two back-up quicks in Australia’s squad for the first Test, Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett, are 33 and 31 respectively.
Digging deeper into the pace-bowling stocks, there are the likes of Michael Neser, 35, Nathan McAndrew, 32, Jhye Richardson, 29, and 24-year-old Fergus O’Neill.
Steve Waugh. Getty
Lance “The Wild Thing” Morris, the West Australian tearaway who’s capable of regularly exceeding 150 kilometres per hour, is out for the summer after undergoing back surgery. He’s 27.
“As soon as you start talking about retirement, it’s going to come around a lot quicker,” Lyon added.
“I haven’t thought about retirement or spoken about retirement, and I know ‘Starcy’ hasn’t done that, and I know that Josh and Pat [haven’t either].
“Between the four of us, we haven’t sat down and said, ‘This is what we’re going to do’.
“We love playing cricket with each other, we love playing cricket for Australia, we love playing our role and we love winning Test matches, so we’ll continue to do that for a while.”
Australia’s 15-man squad for first Ashes Test
Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster