Melbourne: Nathan Lyon is in direct competition with Adam Zampa for a place in Australia’s one-day international side. But Lyon is one of many involved in Australian cricket excited by the rise and rise of confident leg-spinner Zampa.
There is every chance Lyon and Zampa will play together in Australia’s ODI tri-series opener against West Indies. “It’s exciting to see him come through,” Lyon said. “He’s developing into a great spinner. “He’s backed himself. He understands where his game is at. He trusts his spinning ability and he’s come along in leaps and bounds,” Lyon was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au
Lyon described it as a privilege to work alongside Zampa in the nets. “We’re really good mates ... I’ve known him for a few years now. Hopefully if we get the chance to play out there in the middle together, we can win a couple of games for Australia,” Australia’s most prolific Test offspinner said.
Zampa made his ODI debut in February when selectors saw enough in two games to pick him for the World Twenty20. Zampa impressed at the tournament in India, before turning more heads for Rising Pune Supergiants in the IPL, where he picked up astonishing figures of 6-19 in one match.
Steve Smith, who was part of the same IPL franchise as Zampa, noted the legspinner was bowling “extremely well”. “He’s certainly come a long way over the last couple of years. He knows what he wants to do and reads the batsmen very well. His control has improved a lot as well. Hopefully we see him continue to progress,” skipper Smith said.
Lyon further said there was no thought in his mind that playing short-form cricket would hurt his performances with the red ball. “It’s definitely not going to damage my bowling,” he said. “I think it’s going to help it in different ways. I’m confident in my skill-set to get the job done in any format,” Lyon added.
