Nathon Lyon joins Shane Warne; Becomes second Aus Spinner to pick 500 Test wickets
Lyon achieved the historic feat during the ongoing first Test match between Australia and Pakistan at Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, December 17.
Perth: Veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon becomes the second Australian spinner after the legendary Shane Warne and only the fourth spinner in cricket history to take 500 Test wickets. Lyon achieved the historic feat during the ongoing first Test match between Australia and Pakistan at Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday, December 17. He took the wicket of Pakistani batsman Faheem Ashraf in the second innings of the match.
Most wickets in Test cricket:
- 800 – Muttiah Muralitharan
- 708 – Shane Warne
- 690 –James Anderson*
- 619 – Anil Kumble
- 604 – Stuart Breed
- 563 –Glenn McGrath
- 519 – Courtney Walsh
- 501 – Nathan Lyon*
The moment Nathan Lyon bagged his 500th in Test cricket.
– One of the biggest spinners!pic.twitter.com/BHwmq15P7X
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 17, 2023
Before the Test match, Lyon talked about approaching 500 wickets. The Australian spinner also spoke about India’s off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Lyon said Ashwin has been one of his great coaches in his cricket career.
“Look at Ashwin, he is a world-class bowler and someone I have been watching closely since the beginning of his career. We have competed against each other many times in different circumstances around the world. I have nothing but respect for Ashwin and the way he has gone about it,” Lyon said on the eve of the Perth Test against Pakistan, as quoted by cricket.com.au.
“I definitely learned from him. “There’s an opportunity to learn from the people you’re playing against, and without knowing it, he’s probably been one of my greatest coaches in a way,” he said.
“It’s pretty amazing to see both of us creeping towards those 500 points, and we’ll see where we end up,” Lyon said.
“Hopefully at the end of our careers we’ll sit down, have a nice meal and a beer and talk about it,” he added.