![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/a643b23e36d0d5b9a48f4d1668a928ddb334f383.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nHe 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.<\/p>\n
What does that say about the future of spin bowling in Australia? And what does it say that Joe Root\u2019s part-time off-spin is all England think they need?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Joe Root took 0-12 from one over in the first Test in Perth. Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cJoe Root as your national team spin bowler would make anyone who cares about cricket cry. It\u2019s so totally embarrassing,\u201d MacGill says. \u201cHow haven\u2019t they cultivated other spinners?<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve done a good enough job developing our own spin bowlers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shane Warne was spin bowling\u2019s most powerful advocate, always spruiking the value of having a slow bowler in an XI. His presence is missed by tweakers everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cShane Warne would be turning in his grave,\u201d says ex-Australian leg-spinner Kerry O\u2019Keeffe. \u201cHe\u2019d just be teeing off, wouldn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8d050a628279bd4a0a32a481f950a5e278e1611a.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Former Australian cricketer Stuart MacGill. Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWarnie contends \u2013 and it\u2019s fair \u2013 that if it seams, it spins. It sounds like a clich\u00e9, but when it seams, matches end early.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it now just marking time on Australian pitches and waiting for the trips to the subcontinent? That can disillusion young spinners on the way up that they\u2019re only going to play in certain parts of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last summer, Lyon bowled 122.4 overs \u2013 the fewest he has sent down in a home campaign in his career.<\/p>\n
There is every chance Lyon plays a pivotal role in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. But if Australia\u2019s greatest off-spinner isn\u2019t even guaranteed a game \u2013 or bowling fewer overs \u2013 what does that mean for a craft already under siege as Australian pitches offer more for the quicks?<\/p>\n
Lyon spoke about the issue in August.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how important spin bowling is, but there is a degree of me that\u2019s concerned about spin bowling around the world, not just Australia, with the wickets we\u2019re playing on,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at spin bowling and your younger spin bowlers around the country, they\u2019re not getting the overs or the opportunities to bowl on day-three, day-four wickets, or spinning wickets, or even green seamers because the fast bowlers are dominating.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Keeffe understands where Lyon is coming from.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was such a big part of home campaigns and now every pitch they play on affords sideways movement for the quicker bowlers and it lasts most of the match,\u201d O\u2019Keeffe says. \u201cNine wickets for Lyon last summer in a winning series against India is bittersweet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Test spinner Stephen O\u2019Keefe, who took 301 first-class wickets at 24.66, remains bullish about Australia\u2019s depth but concedes Lyon\u2019s situation could disillusion some.<\/p>\n
\u201cDomestically, I think we\u2019re in the strongest position we\u2019ve been in a long time in terms of depth,\u201d O\u2019Keefe says. \u201cMitch Swepson, Tanveer Sangha, Corey Rocchiccioli, Todd Murphy, Ben Manenti and Matt Kuhnemann are there, and I think all of them have the potential to play for Australia. The hard part is when they look up and don\u2019t see a spinner playing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m picking a spinner every day of the week, even in this pink ball game.<\/p>\n
![\"Steve](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/db97f7cc6e907c2582f722d6b68098652c81acdb.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Steve O\u2019Keefe celebrates one of his 12 wickets during the 2017 Test in Pune.Credit: AP<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Nathan doesn\u2019t play at the Gabba and bowls two overs in Perth, I think is really worrisome for domestic spinners. Five Tests, and you don\u2019t need a spinner for two? That would be so disappointing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe do what Beau Webster did. Stop bowling offies and take up medium pace. That might be the shortest path into the Australian team because that seems more effective. In Australia, it is quite tough, so we need to judge our spinners a little differently.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is expected England will only double down with the bat in Brisbane. Even at 2-0 down, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum won\u2019t deviate from their aggressive method.<\/p>\n
Lyon loves bowling on day-five pitches, but unless Australia\u2019s batters pile on runs, that scenario may not materialise this series.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Bazball, if anything, increase his chances of playing,\u201d O\u2019Keefe says. \u201cThey may go hard at him, but in Australia he\u2019s one of the hardest spinners to attack on bigger grounds. I\u2019m backing him as a weapon. He\u2019s just as effective to break a partnership or knock over one of their top order batters as much as Scotty Boland is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Kerry O\u2019Keeffe and MacGill have an eye on the future. They are excited by young Sydney leg-spinner Tom Brooks, who took 6-44 for NSW\u2019s second XI this week against Tasmania and bowls \u201cbig ripping leg breaks\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Lyon\u2019s predicament could have a ripple effect in the years to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cTom has got a leg break that goes halfway across the pitch and that always excites me,\u201d O\u2019Keeffe says. \u201cBut what\u2019s his path? He\u2019s seeing what\u2019s happening to a bloke with 562 Test wickets. He must think, \u2018jeez, is this what I\u2019m aspiring to be?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
Lyon intends to keep going beyond this summer, with a 2027 tour of India and another Ashes series a major lure. He managed to play 100 Tests in a row, but if he were starting out now, there\u2019s a compelling argument that such a streak would not be possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019d be really interesting to know what Nathan is thinking and what his plans are for the future,\u201d MacGill says. \u201cI\u2019m mindful of the fact that Shane\u2019s Australian record [of 708 Test wickets] is around the corner.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He carried the drinks that week in Jamaica during a pink ball game, bowled two overs in Perth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-313311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}