Feature

Lyon low after high of 2013

The offspinner was Australia's highest wicket-taker in 2013, but his form has dipped sharply this year

Nathan Lyon took 2 for 220 in the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai  •  Getty Images

Nathan Lyon took 2 for 220 in the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai  •  Getty Images

Nathan Lyon must think back with fondness to the end of 2013. In Australia's final Test of the year, he drifted one in to Stuart Broad and turned it away, catching his edge on the way through to slip. The gigantic MCG scoreboard flashed up the message that Lyon had just claimed his 100th Test wicket, and he was mobbed by his team-mates, all hair tousling and back slapping.
He finished the year as Australia's equal leading wicket-taker in Tests with 42, and would have been the clear leader had he not been cruelly dropped during both the tours of India and England. Not only that, but he was the custodian of the team song during the joyous time of an Ashes clean-sweep. All was bliss. And then 2014 came along and burst his bubble.
This year, Lyon has taken 13 wickets at 50.69 from five Tests. Against Pakistan in Dubai, he finished with match figures of 2 for 220. By comparison, in Chennai last February when he was mauled by MS Dhoni, he ended up with 4 for 244 in the Test and was then axed. Dropping him then was a mistake, as it would be now; a spinner's first Test in any given country is a learning experience.
But it is up to Lyon in Abu Dhabi this week to show that he has learnt from Dubai, where he struggled to find any means of regularly threatening the Pakistan batsmen. In the first Test he often bowled too straight and allowed the batsmen to work him to leg, perhaps not helped by the presence of a leg slip that encouraged him that way.
Across the course of the match, Pakistan scored 60 runs from Lyon through the off side; through leg they scored 160. The complete lack of left-handers in the Pakistan line-up did nothing for his cause, but nor was he giving himself the best chance of troubling the 11 right-handers. There was also an issue of pace, for at times he was too quick through the air to deceive the batsmen.
That is not to say Lyon created no chances. He is the kind of bowler who often looks unlucky, balls squirting off edges wide of short leg or popping up just out of a fielder's reach. That happened in Dubai. Alex Doolan put down a chance in close when Lyon turned one in and caught the inside edge of Asad Shafiq's bat, while Brad Haddin could not grasp another from Ahmed Shehzad.
Such things do not show up in the statistics, but Lyon's raw figures for 2014 do not make for pretty reading. And it's not just his Test numbers. His overall first-class record for this year is in fact worse than for Tests alone - 16 wickets at 58.75 - and was not helped by a match against India A in Brisbane in July, when he leaked 147 from 30 overs for no wickets.
The tour match in Sharjah against Pakistan A before the Dubai Test did not have first-class status but his figures were consistent with his 2014 trend, 2 for 117 across both innings, with both his wickets coming from consecutive balls. The Pakistan A batsmen often advanced to Lyon and lofted him over the infield to the leg side, which suggests they picked his length comfortably.
His one strong Test performance for the year came in Port Elizabeth, when he picked up 5 for 130 in the first innings, but it did not translate into an Australian victory. Perhaps most concerning is that in his past three first-class innings he has given up at least four runs an over. A dry wicket column is not such an issue if the run column is equally barren, and wickets fall at the other end.
In Dubai, that in part was due to the attacking fields set by captain Michael Clarke as he sought wickets that just never quite seemed to arrive. Clarke has confidence in his frontline spinner and believes he performed better in Dubai than his figures would suggest.
"I thought Lyno bowled pretty well," Clarke said. "There were a few balls that caught the rough and hit the glove or the body and went straight down. When it's your day they go straight to a fielder. I think that's just a good example of the game. One day it can go straight to short leg, the next through your legs and to the boundary for four.
"It's just about continuing to do the right things, having discipline with your training and preparation and then enjoying the rollercoaster of international sport, the highs and lows. That's a learning curve for any young player. Nath's been able to handle that pretty well throughout his career.
"I certainly don't think he's bowling bad, he's bowling well, he's spoken a lot to Warne in South Africa and Murali when he was over here. He's got some really good teachers there and he'll continue to learn and continue to improve. I've got plenty of faith in Lyno, that's for sure."
And well he should, for outside of Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill, Lyon is the only Australian spinner in the past 30 years to have reached the 100-wicket milestone in Tests. That is no small achievement.
But after this series, India and their proficient players of spin tour Australia for four Tests. Last time they visited they lost 4-0, but it was the fast men who did most of the damage for Australia; Lyon picked up seven wickets at 41.57. If 2013 finished on a high for Australia's frontline spinner, it's anyone's guess how 2014 will end up.

Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @brydoncoverdale