ADELAIDE: Australian cricket great Glenn McGrath’s reaction after off-spinner Nathan Lyon overtook his 563-wicket Test record quickly went viral on Thursday.
The 38-year-old, a classical spinner who flights the ball, bowled England’s Ben Duckett to reach the milestone of day two of the third Ashes Test in Adelaide — his 141st Test.
Lyon said he was humbled after claiming his 564th wicket to move past McGrath and into sixth place on the all-time Test bowling list.
At Lyon’s achievement, cameras focused their attention on McGrath in a radio commentary box, with the former superstar quick cheekily pretending to slam his chair on the floor.
McGrath then paid tribute to Lyon, saying, “What a bowler. Nathan Lyon deserves to get that.”
“You wondered what impact Nathan Lyon was going to have in this game. First over, and that was a gem of a ball,” he added.
It was one of two wickets in a sensational opening over which also accounted for Ollie Pope.
Lyon said: “I grew up idolising Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and these guys in my childhood were my heroes.”
“And to think of being able to overtake Glenn … it’s pretty humbling to be honest with you, and it’s something that I’ll look back on at the end of my career, or even tonight.
“I’ll sit back and try and have a moment because it is an extremely special moment for myself,” says Off-spinner.
“But I haven’t been able to do that without the guys at the other end, my teammates,” he added.
Next in his sights is England seamer Stuart Broad, who has 604 wickets, then Indian great Anil Kumble’s 619.
Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan on 800 is the all-time top wicket-taker, followed by Warne (708) and England’s Jimmy Anderson (704).
Lyon recently said he was in some of the best form of his life and he had no plans to quit, with his longevity partly due to having not played international white-ball cricket since 2019.
But he was surprisingly left out of the day-night second Ashes Test in Brisbane, responding by saying he was “absolutely filthy”.
Lyon was also overlooked for a pink-ball Test in the West Indies in July, marking his first omission while fit in 12 years.
It was business as usual in Adelaide.
“I’ve been around this group long enough to understand my role inside and it’s an amazing group to be a part of,” he said.,
“I’ll continue to enjoy that while I can, it’s a pretty special group, and just extremely grateful for that opportunity, I guess.
“Same emotions as usual, nervous, but that’s me.”
Affectionately known as “Garry” after former Australian rules footballer Garry Lyon, he made his debut in 2011 and has best figures of 8-50.
— With additional input from AFP.
