Veteran spinner Nathan Lyon registered his name in Australian cricket’s history books on Day 2 of the third Ashes Test at Adelaide, producing a landmark moment. The off-spinner surpassed legendary pacer Glenn McGrath to become Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, a feat Lyon described as ‘humbling’ as he reflected on overtaking one of his childhood heroes.
The milestone came during England’s first innings at the Adelaide Oval. Lyon, back in the XI after being benched for the previous Test, delivered instantly. In his first over of the day, the 38-year-old struck twice, dismissing Ollie Pope for three before removing the in-form Ben Duckett, to draw level with McGrath and then move past him.
With those wickets, Lyon moved to 564 Test scalps from 141 matches, overtaking McGrath’s tally of 562 wickets achieved in 124 Tests at an average of 30.09 with best figures of 8/50 and 26 four-wicket hauls, 24 five-wicket hauls, and five 10-wicket matches. Only the late Shane Warne, with 708 wickets, sits above him on Australia’s all-time Test list.
Lyon’s achievement also pushed him to sixth on the list of highest wicket-takers in international cricket. Speaking after the Day’s play, Lyon opened about the emotions attached to the moment.
“I grew up idolising Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and these guys were my childhood heroes and to be able to take over or equal Glenn, it’s pretty humbling to be honest with you, and it’s something that I’ll look back at the end of my career. Or even tonight, and sit back and try and a have a moment because it is an extremely special moment for myself,” Lyon said at the post-day press conference.
Notably, in the all-time list, he is behind Stuart Broad’s 604 wickets and Anil Kumble’s 619, while the all-time peaks of Muttiah Muralitharan, Warne, and James Anderson remain huge benchmarks.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the guys at the other end and my teammates. So, yeah, extremely humbling and extremely proud moment as well,” Lyon added.
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