Nathan Lyon: 'No one's got a given right to be selected'

Nathan Lyon has conceded no one has a given right to selection in Australia's Test side but he does not think he has a point to prove as he prepares to return after being left out for the second time in the last three Tests.

Lyon, 38, is expected to return for the third Ashes Test in Adelaide and looked like a man preparing to play during Monday's main training session. Pat Cummins is also likely to return despite having a very light session while Steven Smith was absent through illness but is expected to train on Tuesday having completed a full training session on Sunday.

Lyon's situation is noteworthy given he is no longer one of the first names on Australia's teamsheet. He has been left out of the last two pink-ball day-night Tests Australia have played, and the selectors have been clear in stating that they were condition-based decisions. But Lyon has also only bowled eight overs across Australia's last two red-ball Tests at home.

Lyon has made his frustration known about his omission in the last two pink-ball games, believing he can play a part in the Australian side in all conditions. But he said he doesn't have a point to prove this week while also conceding he doesn't have a right to being selected.

"I've played 140 Test matches, I feel like I don't have a point to prove to anyone," Lyon said. "I'm very clear on my role within this Australian cricket team. I love playing with everyone in that change room, and love representing Australia. So if I get that opportunity again, I'll keep doing that. My dream is to continue to play cricket for Australia. And no one's got a given right to be selected. You've got to work your backside off to make sure that you put your hand up for selection and you earn that right."

Lyon returns to a ground that he has often stated is his favourite in world cricket. He also has an excellent record in Adelaide having taken 63 wickets at 25.36 with four five-wicket hauls. But the last of those came in 2019. It has been diminishing returns since then, mainly because he has hardly bowled.

In a pink-ball Test in 2022 he bowled 30 overs but just 10 in the fourth innings when he has traditionally been at his most dangerous in Adelaide. He bowled just 15.3 overs in the last red-ball Test in Adelaide in January 2024, with the game only lasting seven sessions, and he bowled just one over against India in the pink-ball Test last summer.

He also has no idea how England will try and play him in Adelaide because he has only bowled two overs in the series, having not been required at Perth Stadium which is statistically his best home venue ahead of Adelaide Oval.

"I haven't really had the opportunity to get my teeth into this Test series yet, but that opportunity will hopefully come soon," Lyon said.

"I'm expecting [England's batters] to take me on."

Lyon has also had a significant milestone dangling just out of reach what must have felt like an eternity. When he took his 562nd Test wicket in Grenada in early July, passing Glenn McGrath's tally of 563 to move to second on Australia's all-time list of Test wicket-takers appeared a formality. Three Tests and five months later he still hasn't got there. But he's hoping it can happen in Adelaide.

"I dare say, potentially, may be like a little fairytale I guess, when you look at it with my history here, with working here and dreaming of playing Test cricket," Lyon said. "My first viewing of my first-ever Test match here was on the roller back in 2010 funnily enough against England. So for me to potentially overtake Glenn McGrath would be pretty incredible, but still a long way to go."