Nathan Lyon will aim to attack the likes of Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis over the wicket in Australia’s three-Test series against South Africa.
Lyon came of age in the most recent Ashes series, snaring 19 wickets including his 100th Test scalp in Melbourne.
The 26-year-old has played eight Tests in a row, is entrenched as the side’s first-choice spinner and in the sort of form that deserves more kudos according to spin mentor John Davison.
“Nath, if he’s bowling well, is as good as any conventional finger spinner in the world,” Davison said.
Lyon will be most effective against the Proteas’ left-handed talent, but will also look to take down their right-handers with a more-aggressive approach.
Lyon snared figures of 3-60 from 15 overs in Australia’s intra-squad clash on Friday in Johannesburg, turning the ball sharply.
At the request of Davison, Lyon spent much less time coming around the wicket to the squad’s right-handed batsmen.
“He hadn’t bowled a lot over the wicket to right-handers in the Ashes. He was coming around the wicket a lot and got very comfortable doing that,” said Davison, who umpired parts of the practice match at the Wanderers and is in South Africa as the side’s spin coach.
“So we’ve challenged him to be able to start over the wicket to the right-handers.
“Try to bowl them through the gate, and bring first slip and bat-pad into play.
“Then he’s got a plan B – to come around the wicket to them.”
Lyon will have to work hard on pitches where the quicks are expected to grab all the wickets, but Davison suggested his bounce proved challenging in the Ashes and will do so again in South Africa.
“(Graeme) Swann bowls more side spin, whereas Nath comes over the top a bit more,” he said.
“The bounce got him the wickets in Australia, really. If they’ve got hard and fast wickets here, he bowls well on those wickets.”