Nathan Lyon Hopes of an ODI Recall Ahead of the 2019 World Cup

Published - 17 Jan 2018, 04:10 PM | Updated - 22 Aug 2024, 11:47 PM

Nathan Lyon Hopes of an ODI recall.

Veteran Australian spinner Nathan Lyon yet again showed his skills with the white ball during his comeback in the KFC Big Bash League, and hopes of earning a recall in the Australian limited overs set up for the ICC World Cup scheduled to be held next year. After being overlooked for the ODI series against England following a sensational Ashes series Lyon gave a reminder to the selectors of his exploits in the limited overs format during the Big Bash League.

Nathan Lyon has been arguably one of the best BBL bowlers and his performances over the recent years have been simply phenomenal. In 20 games he has played over the past 5 BBL seasons, Lyon has bagged 31 wickets at an astonishing average of 15.87 and with an economy rate of 6.75. However, he has played only 14 ODI’s for Australia and leggie Adam Zampa has been preferred over him in the 50 over formats in recent times.

However, Nathan Lyon hopes to become Australia’s No 1 spinner across all three formats of the game and admits that the 2019 World Cup is well within his sights.

“To be a part of a World Cup would be pretty special,” Lyon told cricket.com.au at the MCG after the Sydney Sixers romped home by 8 wickets.

“That’s definitely on my radar, I would love to be in that squad. I missed out on the home World Cup here (in 2015). There’s no secrets … I want to be playing all formats of cricket for Australia. But I’m just focused on going out and bowling well for whoever I play for. At the moment, that’s Sydney Sixers.

“We’ve had an amazing summer winning the Ashes. I’ve just got to keep playing decent cricket with red ball, white ball, pink ball – whatever it is.” Even if an ODI recall is not within his sights Lyon would be eager of spending some quality time with the white ball in the forthcoming months.

Lyon has been nominated for this month’s IPL Auctions, and his base price is just under $AUD 300,000. This was the same question which was raised by former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum who has been part of the BBL on ten occasions.

“I’ve got no doubt he’d go over there and do very, very well,” said McCullum. “What he has in terms of skill set with the ball would be a huge weapon in the IPL.(But) he’s too much of a valuable asset for the Australian cricket side to (put) him at risk. He’s got a lot of overs to bowl moving forward. He’s such a valuable asset that you don’t want to risk him,” he added.