Nathan Lyon says Adelaide Oval’s switch to a red-ball Test won’t change the way he bowls at his most dominant venue, as Australia host West Indies there for a second straight summer.
Adelaide will have a rare January daytime Test in the newly-released summer schedule, with their usual December day-night match pushed to later in the season.
The schedule of Tests, ODIs and T-20 matches is below, but the landscape may have looked differently if a radical New Year’s Test had been approved.
Earlier this year South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) suggested snatching the New Year’s Test and hosting it in Adelaide because rain always seems to fall in Sydney at that time of year.
The possibility of a switch remains alive despite intense reaction to the plan, although the SCG will host the fixture against Pakistan this coming January.
Australia’s Nathan Lyon, world cricket’s leading wicket taker at the Adelaide Oval, is happy the venue is hosting a red-ball Test this summer
The spin king (pictured bowling to India in Adelaide in 2018) insists his style won’t need to be changed to compensate for the switch to the red ball in the City of Churches
Cricket Australia has opted to start the men’s Test summer in Perth on December 14, with the organisation prioritising sending the more marketable Pakistan team to Western Australia.
Officials are keen to build up the prestige of Tests at Perth’s Optus Stadium, after poor crowds attended last year against West Indies 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 West Indies arrive for Tests in Adelaide and Brisbane.
The Adelaide Test will start on a Wednesday due to Windies’ schedule commitments, before a day-night fixture at the Gabba rounds out the Test summer from January 25.
South Australia have made no secret of their frustration at being moved to January and hosting the West Indies again, but they did request a day Test after missing out on a December or New Year’s fixture.
Lyon has become the king of Adelaide in recent years after going from working as a curator at the venue to the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket there.
And the offspinner insisted the change would not leave the venue at risk of being too batter-friendly.
‘I am actually excited to play a red-ball game there, seeing as we haven’t played a red-ball game there for a number of years,’ said Lyon.
‘I think it is the best place to play cricket worldwide. The contest between bat and ball. It’s so even. I don’t think it changes too much, if I am being honest.’
Lyon says the Adelaide Oval is the best venue in world cricket to play regardless of whether you’re a batter or bowler
Of Lyon’s 60 Test wickets at Adelaide, 28 have come with the pink ball at an average of 23.85.
His record with the red ball at the ground is almost as strong, with 32 Test wickets at 27.62.
Regardless, Lyon said he did not need to alter the way he bowls with the move 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. Keeping it very simple.
‘When we complicate things, that’s when we get ourselves in trouble.’
Australia and West Indies will also meet for three ODIs and three T20s in late January and February, before Australia head to New Zealand for two Tests and three T20s.
AUSTRALIA’S 2023/24 SUMMER CRICKET SCHEDULE
MEN
THREE TESTS V PAKISTAN
December 14-18, Optus Stadium, Perth
December 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 v 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 v 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
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