Why Aussie cricket star Nathan Lyon is happy Adelaide Oval has lost its pink ball day-night Test
Nathan Lyon says moving from Adelaide Oval to a Red Ball Test won’t change the way he bowls at his most dominant venue as Australia host the West Indies for the second summer running.
Adelaide will have a rare daytime test in January in the newly released summer schedule, moving their usual day-night match in December to later in the season.
The schedule of Tests, ODIs and T-20 matches is below, but the landscape might have looked different had a radical New Year’s Test been approved.
Earlier this year, South Australian Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas and the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) proposed taking the New Year’s test and holding it in Adelaide, as it always seems to rain in Sydney at that time of year.
The possibility of a substitution remains despite the intense reaction to the plan, although the SCG will host the game against Pakistan in January.
Australian Nathan Lyon, the world’s leading wicket taker at the Adelaide Oval, is pleased the venue is hosting a Red Ball Test this summer
The spider king (pictured bowling for India in Adelaide in 2018) insists his style doesn’t need to be changed to compensate for the move to the red ball at the City of Churches
Cricket Australia has opted to begin the men’s testing summer on December 14 in Perth, with the organization prioritizing sending the more marketable Pakistan team to Western Australia.
Officials are keen to build Tests prestige at Perth’s Optus Stadium, after a poor crowd attended against the West Indies last year after a two-year absence due to COVID.
Pakistan will also play the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests in Melbourne and Sydney, before the West Indies arrive for Tests in Adelaide and Brisbane.
The Adelaide test kicks off on a Wednesday due to Windies’ commitments, before a day-night match at the Gabba wraps up the January 25 summer of testing.
South Australia have made no secret of their frustration at moving to January and hosting the West Indies again, but they did request a day test after missing a game in December or New Year.
Lyon has become the king of Adelaide in recent years after rising from working as a trustee at the venue to become the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket there.
And the offspinner insisted that the change not leave the venue at the risk of being too batter-friendly.
“I’m actually excited to play a red ball game there as we haven’t played a red ball game there for several years,” Lyon said.
“I think it’s the best place in the world to play cricket. The match between bat and ball. It’s so even. I don’t think it changes much, to be honest.’
Lyon says the Adelaide Oval is the best venue in world cricket to play whether batsman or bowler
Of Lyon’s 60 test wickets in Adelaide, 28 have come with the pink ball at an average of 23.85.
His record with the red ball on the ground is almost as strong, with 32 test wickets at 27.62.
Anyway, Lyon said he didn’t need to change the way he bowls with the transition from red to pink ball.
“I don’t change much at all,” he said.
“It’s the same process. It’s just about doing what I do, doing my skill over and over again. By keeping it very simple.
“If we complicate things, we get ourselves into trouble.”
Australia and the West Indies also meet for three ODIs and three T20s at the end of January and February, before Australia head to New Zealand for two Tests and three T20s.
AUSTRALIA’S SUMMER CICKET SCHEDULE FOR 2023/24
GENTLEMEN
THREE TESTS V PAKISTAN
December 14-18, Optus Stadium, Perth
Dec 26-30, MCG, Melbourne
January 3-7, SCG, Sydney
TWO TESTS V WEST INDIES
January 17-21, Adelaide Oval
January 25-29, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N)
THREE ODIs against WEST INDIES
February 2, MCG, Melbourne
February 4, SCG, Sydney
February 6, Manuka Oval, Canberra
THREE T20s v WEST INDIES
February 9, Blundstone Arena, Hobart
February 11 Adelaide Oval
February 13, Optus Stadium, Perth
WOMEN
THREE T20s v WEST INDIES
October 1, North Sydney Oval
October 2, North Sydney Oval
October 5, Allan Border Field, Brisbane
THREE ODIs against WEST INDIES
October 8, Allan Border Field, Brisbane
October 12, Junction Oval, Melbourne
October 15, Junction Oval, Melbourne
MULTI-FORMAT SERIES v SOUTH AFRICA
T20s:
January 27, Manuka Oval, Canberra
January 28, Manuka Oval, Canberra
January 30, Blundstone Arena, Hobart
ODIs:
February 3 Adelaide Oval
February 7, North Sydney Oval
February 10, North Sydney Oval
Test
February 15-18, WACA, Perth