SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 08: Nathan Lyon of Australia appeals successfully for the wicket of Moeen Ali of England during day five of the Fifth Test match in the 2017/18 Ashes Series between Australia and England at Sydney Cricket Ground on January 8, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

Australia is a graveyard for right-arm off-spin bowlers, yet Nathan Lyon has forged a successful career out of the post-Shane Warne Period. It has been no easy feat.

After 408 Test wickets, Lyon is still criminally underrated by many pundits, including Kevin Pietersen, who tweeted this during the Second Test in Adelaide.

"Can SOMEONE please smack Lyon?!?!! FFS! Off spinner with zero variations and bowling on world crickets flattest road!!!!" - Kevin Pietersen

While having a quick glimpse over Lyon's record against Pietersen, the off-spinner has taken 'KPs' wicket four times for 163 runs. After the comments made by Pietersen, he has equalled Shane Warne with the most Test wickets at the Adelaide Oval with 56.'

Fair effort on "world cricket's flattest road."

A handful of the world best have tried their luck on the harsh Australian pitches, and many have failed. The great Muttiah Muralitharan took 12 wickets at 75.41; if that doesn't elaborate the magnitude of Lyon's feat, then I don't think anything will.

Taking a leaf out of Bear Grylls' book, Lyon has improvised, adapted, and overcome each significant obstacle on his way to 400.

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The fable of 'Gaz' has been well documented.

Born in the country New South Wales town of Young, in 2006, he moved to the Australian Capital Territory to become an apprentice curator, made the journey to Adelaide in 2010, and became a curator at the Adelaide Oval.

While working on his craft in the South Australian Grade Cricket competition, Lyon worked his way into the 2010-11 Big Bash and found his way into the Redbacks' first-class side a month later.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Shane Warne came out in 2016 and stated that overseas bowlers bowl too quickly on Australian soil. Australian cricketer writer Jarrod Kimber also said in 2020 that Australian finger-spinners have a sturdy record here. Yet, many overseas 'offies' haven't used the top-spinner anywhere near enough.

Below is a list of all off-spinners who have taken 30 or more wickets in Australia.

since WW2 Country Wickets Bowl Ave S/R
Nathan Lyon Australia 209 32.63 67.3
Bruce Yardley Australia 79 32.17 72.5
Ashley Mallett Australia 63 32.8 78.6
Lance Gibbs West Indies 59 33.38 97.2
Ian Johnson Australia 57 25.71 78.8
R Ashwin India 39 42.15 86.2
Nathan Hauritz Australia 38 29.65 61
Fred Titmus England 37 40.35 123
Geoff Miller England 36 22.47 71.3
John Emburey England 35 32.11 98.8
Erapalli Prasanna India 31 31.12 82.6
Hugh Tayfield South Africa 30 28.1 74.2
Tim May Australia 30 40.03 101.6

 

Let's have a look below at some of the most successful overseas off-spinners in their tours down under.

I find it very fitting that the man with the first name Lancelot has the most wickets as an overseas off-spin bowler. Taking wickets as an off-spinner requires trials and tribulations on an Arthurian Saga level.

Lance Gibbs was a trailblazer in every sense of the word. The first spinner to 300 Test Wicket, Gibbs also took a Test hat-trick at the Adelaide Oval in 1961. Gibbs worked tirelessly on his craft and once bowled one of the most extraordinary spells ever seen.

In the last session between lunch and tea against India, Gibbs took 8 for 6 from his 15-over spell, finishing with the most remarkable bowling figures of 8/38 off 53.1 overs.

Gibbs was very reliable for the West Indies in Australia, taking 59 wickets at 33.38.

In the famous 1960-61 Test series between Australia and the West Indies, Gibbs changed the series with his long spinning fingers. Unselected for the famous tied First Test in Brisbane and overlooked for the Second Test in Melbourne, the great Sir Donald Bradman even said to the Windies Captain Frank Worrell that Gibbs should be sent home as off-spinners don't do well in Australia.

Brought in for the Third Test in Sydney at the expense of fellow struggling 'offie' Sonny Ramadhin, Gibbs changed the momentum on the third morning, dismissing three Australian batsmen in four balls, and rolled them again on the last day, taking 5 for 66 off 26 overs.

In the next Test in Adelaide, Gibbs took a hat-trick in the first innings on his way to 5 for 97 off 35.6 overs and finished the Test series with 19 wickets in three Tests. Gibbs played his last Test in Melbourne in 1975-76, taking his 308th wicket to equal Fred Trueman's record and became the overall leader with his last ever test wicket, holding the record for five years.

Against a World Series-ravaged Australian side in 1978-79, dual off-spinners Geoff Miller and John Emburey had a field day in England's 5-1 demolition of Australia.

Bowling all-rounder Miller topped the averages for the series with 23 wickets at 15.04 and Emburey in his first-ever Test series taking 16 wickets at 19.12.

Emburey found himself in another overseas Ashes victory in 1986-87 when the Mike Gatting-led XI won 2-1. Emburey was instrumental in the First Test, taking 5 for 80 off 42.5 in the last innings at Brisbane, and was at it again with his immaculate control in the Fourth Test, taking 7/76 off 46 overs including 15 maidens.

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Three other international off-spinners enjoyed success in Australia, England's 1880s mainstay Billy Bates, Indian, E. A. S. Prasanna, who was one-quarter of the formidable spinning quartet for India, and South African legend Hugh Tayfield.

Bates played all of his 15 career Tests on Australian soil (a record for most tests away without one at home) and finished with 50 wickets at 16.42. In England's 1882-83 tour down under, Bates took the most significant Test match figures by an off-spin bowler in Australia, taking 14/102 off 59.2 overs. The Bates Story ended in tragedy while touring in Australia during the 1887-88 summer.

While bowling in the nets, Bates was hit in the eye by a powerful straight drive from his teammate and had to give up the game he loved due to his poor eyesight. This premature retirement resulted in depression for Bates, who attempted suicide and passed away at 44-years-of-age in 1900.

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E.A.S Prasanna had all the tricks to succeed on the harsh roads in Australia. A wizard with the ball, Prasanna used his perfectly disguised flight to trap batsmen into hitting errant half-volleys and thrived on facing attacking batsmen (which were plentiful in down under).

India lost their 1967-68 Test series against Australia 4-0, but that didn't stop Prasanna from leading the overall wickets with 25 from four tests at an average of 27.44. He finished with 31 wickets at 31.12 in Australia from eight Tests. This included 6/104 off 33.4 in Brisbane and 6/141 off 34 overs in Melbourne.

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Hugh Tayfield was one of the greatest off-spinners to ever play the game. 170 wickets from only 37 Tests at 25.91 proves how masterful the reliable spinner was. In his one and only test series down-under, Tayfield single-handedly bowled South Africa to their first Test victory in 42-years, taking match figures of 13 for 165 off 66.5 (8-ball overs).

Not one to shy away from a four-hour bowling spell, Tayfield's effort at the M.C.G. was herculean on a surface that didn't offer much for the spinners.

Between the fifth and seventh wicket, Tayfield bowled nine consecutive maidens and clean bowled Keith Miller, Gil Langley, and Graham Hole to lead South Africa to a memorable victory. One can only ponder the damage Tayfield would do if given a chance to tour the sub-continent.

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Many notable off-spin bowlers have fallen towards the other end of the spectrum in Australia.

Even one of the greatest of all time, Muttiah Muralitharan, struggled to make an impact down-under. 612 wickets in only 97 Tests across the sub-continent paints a picture that 'Murali' was unplayable in Asia and timid everywhere else. This is wrong.

Although 'Murali' struggled in Australia, he was an absolute menace in England and New Zealand. The all-time leading test wicket-taker struggled to gain any momentum in Australia after being no-balled seven times by Australian umpire Darrell Hair in 1995-96.

Former Australian Captain Steve Waugh described this as a 'crucifixion' and should have been handled differently. 'Murali' came back to Australia playing for the World XI in 2005 and was out-bowled by Australian leggies Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill.

On his last tour of Australia in 2007-08, Murali finished Day 1 with 2 for 67 off 23 but was quickly picked apart on day two, going for 103 in 27 overs. On a pitch offering very little for spinners in the Second Test, Murali toiled through 60 overs, conceding 230 runs and taking only two wickets, leaving Australia with cricket's most extensive debate, Warne or Muralitharan.

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Graeme Swann and Harbhajan Singh have both struggled in Australia.

Swann famously retired immediately after the Third Test in Perth and left the tour. He was taken apart brutally by the Australian batters going for 560 runs from his first three Tests. Swann also struggled when England won the 2010-11 Ashes taking 15 wickets at 39.80 from England's 3-1 win.

Harbhajan Singh only played five tests in Australia, but boy was it controversial. A lion on at home on spinning pitches, Harbhajan struggled away with 152 wickets at 38.90. This was prevalent in Australia when he was targeted by the Australian top six after being charged for racially slurring Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds when he was batting. Harbhajan toiled through 154 overs in three tests taking eight wickets at 61.25.

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One off-spinner that stands out is Ravichandran Ashwin, who has slowly turned his record in Australia around.

Undoubtedly, India's most superb spinning all-rounder Ashwin also deserves to be spoken with greats such as Bedi and Kumble in the rarefied air. His time in Australia has been one of progression and adaptability.

This is Ashwin's average compared to Lyon's in the last four series between India and Australia in Australia.

Lyon: 15 tests, 60 wickets, 37.12 average, 74.63 strike/rate.

Ashwin: 10 tests, 39 wickets, 42.15 average, 86.15 strike/rate.

Ashwin out-bowled Lyon last summer in India's monumental Test Series win in Australia with his drift and flight, just like Prasanna did in 1967-68.

 

As expected, Australian off-spinners have had a fruitful time on the hard wickets. Even with the 50-year long love affair with leg-spin bowling down under, Australia has found finger-spinners who have played their part in Australia's colorful cricketing history.

Names like Ashley Mallett, Bruce Yardley, Ian Johnson, Colin Miller, Nathan Hauritz and even pre-WWI champion Hugh Trumble have won Australia countless tests.

Mallett, who passed away three months ago, became Australia's greatest post-WWII off-spinner. Mallett was terrific in Australia, with 63 wickets at 32.8 from 21 tests. He also carved a successful career for South Australia, taking 390 wickets at 24.44 from 91 First-Class matches.

Against Pakistan in 1972-73, Mallett polished off the last innings taking 8/59 off 23.6 overs (the second-best bowling figures ever at the Adelaide Oval).

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Bruce Yardley and Colin 'Funky' Miller were two off-spinning enigma's.

Both players started out as fast-bowlers and transitioned into crafty offies.

Debut at 30 after the World Series fiasco, Yardley held his spot in the side and became Australia's International Cricketer of the Year in 1981-82. Taller than most off-spinners, Yardley, a native Sandgroper, took 112 wickets at 25.16 at the WACA from 32 first-class matches. At 34-years-old in 1981-82, Yardley had his most productive summer taking 51 wickets from only nine tests at an average of 22.67.

Yardley took 18 wickets at 22.17 against Pakistan in three tests and then against the number one side in the world. He took 10 for 185 off 58 overs in the third Test against the West Indies, removing Clive Lloyd, Jeff Dujon, and Larry Gomes twice.

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Before Ollie Robinson switched from medium-fast bowling to off-spin on Day 4 of the Adelaide Test, Colin 'Funky' Miller was doing it during the middle of an over. Miller started off in the grade cricket system and toiled away as a medium-pace swing bowler for Victoria and South Australia.

Miller moved to Tasmania at 28 years of age in 1992 and first started bowling off-spin after an ankle injury in a club cricket match in 1996-97. From then on, 'Funky' bowled his medium pace outswingers with the new ball and came back to bowl his off-spin with the old ball.

The effects of this radical switch were felt throughout the Sheffield Shield in 1997-98 when Miller broke Chuck Fleetwood-Smith's 63-year record for most wickets in a season, 'Funky' finished with 70 at 24.98 and found his way into the Test side.

Miller made his presence felt straight away with 69 wickets at 26.15 from 18 Tests and won the Australian Test Player of the Year award in 2001 at 37-years-of-age and had retired First-Class Cricket by 2002.

*The footage of Miller switching mid-over has to be seen to be believed*

 

Nathan Lyon's off-spinning record in Australia is the elephant in the room. His record, especially compared to Post WWII off-spinners, is magnificent.

Across the last 25 years of Test cricket in Australia, Lyon has taken the most wickets by a spin bowler. He's six ahead of Warne, 74 ahead of Stuart MacGill, and 171 more than Australia's next spinner in Nathan Hauritz.

Since his debut in 2011, spin-bowlers have averaged 62.09 in Australia Lyon has gone at 32.63 with the ball.

The considerably large gap of 29.46 is better than Jadeja's (14.14) and Ashwin's (11.67) record at home in India compared to touring spinners.

Many fans feel they share a likeness with Lyon. He isn't the classic 'Aussie Battler,' but his willingness to give everything a 'fair dinkum' crack has seen him win many fans over the years.

Lyon's ability to take 408 wickets in a climate not suited to off-spin, where even the greatest in history have suffered, is a testament to the cricketer that is 'Gaz.'