Nathan Lyon wouldn’t make it to Sydney.

Nineteen overs had been bowled. Pakistan was 2-63 with Azhar Ali and Younis Khan looking comfortable.

Nathan Lyon had figures of four overs, one maiden, 0-11 in the second innings. In the first innings, Lyon had bowled twenty-three overs, one maiden, 1-115.

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If the players had had to walk off the field then and there, Lyon probably wouldn’t have made it to Sydney.

Sydney would have been denied the cult of Garry.

***

Nathan Lyon wouldn’t make it to Adelaide.

He hadn’t taken a wicket since Cocky was an egg. He was going to get dropped for Steve O’Keefe.

But then O’Keefe got injured, granting Lyon a reprieve for the third Test against South Africa at Adelaide.



The cult of Garry started in Adelaide. That match was when Lyon started taking wickets again. Not many, but enough for him to make it to the first Test against Pakistan at the Gabba.

That Test was going to be under lights, prompting the question of whether Chadd Sayers would be played in a four-man pace attack, but the Gabba was, and still is, Lyon’s best Australian ground.

***

Nathan Lyon wouldn’t make it to Brisbane.

He had been creamed in the UAE in 2014.

Azhar Ali, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq all scored multiple hundreds in that series. The only Australian spinner to claim the wickets of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq had been Steve Smith. Maybe it was a sign Australia should take a gamble on a leggie?

Or if you preferred the next best option, the only Australian spinner to dismiss Azhar Ali in the series had been Steve O’Keefe. Maybe O’Keefe was boring. Maybe he didn’t turn it enough.

Maybe he was the bloke Australia simply had to pick?



Australia’s next Test was that Test at Adelaide against India in 2014.

Lyon had never taken his country home in the fourth innings before. Chasing 364, India were 2-242 after 69 overs. Virat Kohli was on 100. Murali Vijay was on 99.

Lyon had figures of twenty-five overs, three maidens, 1-116.

The critics were right. India was going to win. Lyon wouldn’t make it to Brisbane. Even Glenn Maxwell would be a better option than Lyon. He might not be able to take any more wickets, but his fielding and batting would be better.

Then Lyon ran through India, and he didn’t just make it to Brisbane in an aeroplane – that aeroplane sailed through cloud nine.

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Nathan Lyon wouldn’t make it to Hobart. Not in 2011 against New Zealand.



The pitch was one of the green beauties that Tasmania had built their most successful Shield era on. Even when Tasmania had Xavier Doherty and Jason Krejza, and even though they were two of the better spinners who weren’t in the Test team, occasionally the pitch was so green there wasn’t really a need for either of them.

The clouds were grey and rain was predicted. Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson would be joined by another quick, particularly with Shane Watson out of the team due to injury. Ryan Harris was still recovering from injury, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Johnson were injured, but a local, Ben Hilfenhaus, would be the ideal addition to the team.

The Kiwis wouldn’t know what hit them.

But Lyon was picked. The three quicks did their job as well as what could be reasonably expected, as did Lyon.

The blame for that loss lies fairly and squarely at the feet of the batsmen.

***

Lyon didn’t make it to Perth. Not in January 2012 against India.

Ryan Harris was fit again, and Lyon was the only Australian bowler the Indian batsmen had been comfortable against in all four innings of the series up to that point, so Starc’s potential to leak runs was considered worth the risk, and it was worth the risk.



That wasn’t just because of the batsmen, it was also because of the pitch.

The pitch had been flat in 2008 when Australia tried an all-pace attack, against expectations. But in 2012, it was quick and grassy. Lyon was not needed.

India needed Ravi Ashwin, because they didn’t have a pace quartet worth fielding ahead of him, but still, they left him out.

Lyon has made it to every other WACA Test since his debut.

***

On day five at Melbourne, Lyon dismissed Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq in the one over.

It was reminiscent of the over Nathan Hauritz bowled at the SCG in 2010, which removed then Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousef and Misbah-ul-Haq. From that stage on in that match, Australia were in front.

The same couldn’t be said at the MCG, but Lyon had shifted a win from being mainly a theoretical prospect to a distinct possibility.



After tea at the MCG, Steve Smith used Lyon at second change, despite his three wickets providing a compelling case for him to resume.

If he were still captain, Michael Clarke might have taken Lyon’s cap and left it on the ground as he left for tea, so the umpire could pick it up when play resumed.

***

In 2010, Australia went to India for two Tests. Ponting was still captain and Hauritz was still the spinner. By the end of 2010, it had been four Tests since Hauritz had been the spinner, and Ponting had captained the Test side for the last time.

Smith will probably still be the Test captain at the start of 2018 no matter what happens in 2017.

If Lyon is still a regular in the team at the start of 2018, it will be an achievement that points to one of his greatest abilities.

The ability to ensure he makes it to the next ground.