Nathan Lyon was today waiting to discover whether his stop-start Test career will resume at Old Trafford.
Lyon, who dismissed Kumar Sangakkara with his first ball in Test cricket in August 2011 and has 76 wickets at an average of 33.18 from his 22 appearances, has suffered a string of extraordinary setbacks.
There are fears the Australian selectors have left him demoralised over the last six months, first by dropping him after the opening Test in Pakistan and then, having recalled him for matches three and four and seen him take nine wickets in Delhi, selecting rookie off-spinner Ashton Agar for the first two Ashes Tests.
Lyon will hardly have been boosted, either, by Cricket Australia’s frantic attempts to get the law changed so Pakistan-born Fawad Ahmad could play in the Ashes.
However, captain Michael Clarke knows Lyon, 25, will give his all if selected for Manchester. He said: “India was a tough tour, I learned a lot about myself on and off the field. I went through a lot but I’m really happy with how I bounced back.”
