![\"Lyon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/6ac39d4b847831543f404ba6f321065537497212.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nIt is the second day\/night Test in a row and the second time in three games Lyon, formerly one of the first names on the team sheet, has been left out in favour of an all-pace attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe communication is always there, I just haven\u2019t had it in me to sit down with the coach and George at the moment,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n
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Lyon was spinning a ball of a different kind ahead of the first day\u2019s play.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that will happen. I\u2019m not the first player to miss a Test match and I won\u2019t be the last. But yeah, obviously pretty gutted because I know the role that I can play within Australian cricket and especially a venue like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Test great Mark Waugh and former Test leg-spinner Kerry O\u2019Keeffe said Australia had made the wrong call in dropping Lyon, while former captain Ricky Ponting, Aaron Finch and Simon Katich all expressed their surprise at the decision for a pitch where the grass has been cut to just three millimetres.<\/p>\n
Though Lyon bowled only two overs in the pace-dominated Perth Test, he has a strong record at the Gabba, taking 52 wickets at a tick under 29, and has 43 wickets at 25.63 with the pink ball.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no secret it\u2019s a place where I absolutely love playing cricket and I feel like I\u2019ve got a decent record here, get a lot of bounce there,\u201d Lyon said. \u201cI felt like the wicket was going to offer a bit of bounce for myself, but I\u2019d like to see what [English spin bowler Will] Jacks does.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Australian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/b5b780e3ec223703593eff30c2e7fb78267f61de.jpeg\")
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Australian coach Andrew McDonald and stand-in skipper Steve Smith.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Bailey stressed Lyon\u2019s omission was based on conditions, as it was for the third Test against the West Indies in Jamaica.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery much it\u2019s a one-Test decision \u2013 Nath will play in Adelaide,\u201d Bailey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s how you think you\u2019ll structure up the resources and how it\u2019s going to be used, when it gets dark here, when you think you\u2019re going to be using seam bowlers, how many overs will get bowled in the day, when you think new ball will be available, that sort of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Keeffe, commentating on Kayo Sports, could not get his head around the decision to drop Lyon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t agree with the non-selection of a spinner on a dry Australian pitch,\u201d O\u2019Keeffe said. \u201cI know it\u2019s a day-nighter with the pink ball, but I just can\u2019t come to terms with it, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waugh said it was an \u201cunnecessary\u201d move.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks a good batting surface, so I would expect when the ball gets to 30 to 40 overs old it will be hard work for the seamers, and we know England like to play an aggressive style of game, so you need to change the tempo of the innings and the tempo of your bowling,\u201d Waugh said.<\/p>\n