Around this time every year, the prospect of Australia using an all-pace attack for the first Test at the Gabba is floated.

It hasn’t happened since 2008 and it almost certainly won’t happen on December 4.

Chief selector Rod Marsh all but confirmed on Monday that offspinner Nathan Lyon will be part of the XI that faces India in Brisbane.

“If Mitch Marsh and Shane Watson are included and we go with four quicks, it’s going to be hard to give them all a bowl,” Marsh said.

“I would be very surprised if the selector on duty, Trevor Hohns, and (coach) Darren Lehmann decide to go that way. I’d be very, very surprised.”

Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson and Watson bowled Australia to a 149-run victory in the most recent spinner-less Test attack at the Gabba.

The venue has been a happy hunting ground for Lyon, and Marsh backed the 27-year-old to bounce back after struggling in the UAE, where he captured three scalps at an average of 140.

“Nathan was a little bit unlucky; he could have had a lot better figures,” Marsh said.

“He’s got a good record in Test match cricket. There’s no doubt he probably bowls better with a bit of bounce. There wasn’t a lot of bounce over there.

“It’s easier to say their spinners bowled better than our spinners. But when you’ve got 600 runs on the board, it’s a lot harder to bat.”

NATHAN LYON’S TEST RECORD AT THE GABBA:

*15 wickets at 21.86 from three Tests

*Claimed match figures of 7-88 against New Zealand in 2011, his best Test figures on Australian soil

*Dismissed England captain Alastair Cook and South Africa legend Jacques Kallis at the venue.