(Cricket news) Nathan Lyon has completed 10 years in international cricket, the 34 year old is the most experienced Australian in the current squad. He played his 100th test against India this year at the Gabba. He took a five wicket haul in his debut test match and ended the match with 7 wickets against Sri Lanka in Galle. His best performance came against Bangladesh four year ago when he took 7 wickets in the first innings and 6 in the second for 13 wickets in the match and only three Australians have taken more than 13 wickets in a test match.

Nathan Lyon has so far taken 85 wickets in 23 Tests against England at an average of 30.53, with two five wicket hauls. He has 399 career wickets which is only behind spin wizard Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. The classical off-spinner has been virtually a constant fixture since making his debut against Sri Lanka in 2011 and is now on the cusp of becoming the 16th bowler to take 400 wickets or more. He took the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara in the first ball of his career and now after 99 more tests he is chasing another record. This year Ravichandran Ashwin crossed the 400 wicket mark and now Lyon has the chance to do it.

"I'm far from being done," Lyon said. "I'm still hungrier than ever. I want to go out there and play as much cricket for Australia as I can… win a lot of Test series for Australia."

Nathan Lyon has played 78 consecutive test matches for the team since 2013, he is only one away from equalling Michael Hussey’s record and 6 away from Sachin Tendulkar’s record. In the 2019 Ashes series, Lyon played all of the matches while taking 20 wickets which had a 6 wicket haul and was the only Australian to take more than 5 wickets in an innings.

Lyon also helped the Aussies get their first Ashes victory in 18 years at Edgbaston as he took 9 wickets in the match which included a 6 wicket haul in the second innings. This year he played 2 matches and has taken 5 wickets. Lyon has been the leading spinner for Australia for a long time now, even in the Ashes where the pacers have dominated other than a few exceptions like Shane Warne who has taken the most wickets in the Ashes with 195 in 36 matches. It will be fascinating to see yet another bowling milestone being passed this year.

Also read: India return to top of ICC Test rankings