Nathan Lyon enjoying lessons from Sri Lankan maestro Muttiah Muralitharan

Lyon in action for Australia

Australian cricketer Nathan Lyon has said that the sessions he has had with the spin maestro Muttiah Muralitharan recently have done him a world of good. Muralitharan was appointed last month as Australia’s spin bowling consultant for their series against Pakistan in the UAE in October later this year.

Australia were in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a couple of weeks ago preparing for their series against Pakistan, and they were joined in their training camp by the Sri Lankan legend.

There is no better person than Murali to learn about the art of off-spin bowling from. He is the leading wicket-taker, after all, in the history of Test cricket with a staggering 800 wickets from 133 Tests and tasted success all over the world. Apart from imparting his experience of bowling in different conditions, he has also been helping the Australian add a carrom ball, a delivery that is flicked out from the front of the hand and turns in the opposite direction to the off-break, to his repertoire.

"To have Murali on board for the UAE is fantastic," said Lyon of Cricket Australia’s decision to hire the services of Muralitharan. "I learnt some things over there and it's awesome to be around one of the greats of the game."

Lyon has been learning the tricks of the trade from the spin wizard, but he didn’t forget to credit his mentor and Australian spin bowling coach John Davison for the improvements in his bowling in the last 18 months and said that he’d already been working with him on a few variations. "It wasn't like I rocked into Colombo, worked with Murali and suddenly I could bowl a new ball," he told reporters in Brisbane. "I've been working with John Davison (Australian spin bowling coach) for a while now just to nut out a few different variations."

The New South Wales cricketer has been included in the Australia ‘A’ squad for their 2nd unofficial Test against India ‘A’ starting on July 13th, and he has said that he will be demonstrating his new variation for the 1st time against the Indians.

Lyon has already taken 112 wickets from 33 Tests but just recently cemented his spot in the Test side, and Muralitharan, a fan of the Australian off-spinner, has stated that he will thrive if he receives the backing of the Australian team management.

"In a country like Australia, you don't need many spinners, you need to get the right one," Muralitharan said. "I think Nathan Lyon is the answer, for any format. He spins the ball, he is confident, he has done well and taken more than 100 wickets in Test cricket. Australia has to persevere with him and then fill the backups."