Nathan Lyon has already surpassed the renowned former countryman Glenn McGrath in terms of wickets, which is no small accomplishment considering it took him 141 Test matches to reach 564. While McGrath was watching the third Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval, Lyon reached the milestone. The former cricket player’s response is one that will live on in history.
In the tenth over of the English innings, Lyon began his session. It took him just three balls to get his first breakthrough, which was the wicket of Ollie Pope. This put Lyon on par with McGrath’s 563 Test wickets, but a few balls later, the off-spinner destroyed Ben Duckett’s defence to surpass the record of the great pacer.
Faking his angst while Lyon went over his stats, McGrath, who was right there, responded hilariously.
Click here to view the video.
Glenn McGrath’s reaction to Nathan Lyon passing him on the all-time Test wickets list was absolutely hilarious 🤣 #Ashes pic.twitter.com/1jTM06M8me
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 18, 2025
Lyon is currently Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test matches, but he is still well behind the late Shane Warne’s 708. Before making his debut for his country, the seasoned spinner worked as a pitch curator. He currently holds sixth place overall in Test wickets, closely behind Stuart Broad (604) and Anil Kumble (619).
Test cricket’s top wicket-takers
| Sr. No. | Player Name | Team/Country | Matches | Wickets | Â Duration |
| 1 | Muttiah Muralitharan | ICC XI / Sri Lanka | 133 | 800 | 1992-2010 |
| 2 | Shane Warne | Australia | 145 | 708 | 1992-2007 |
| 3 | James Anderson | England | 188 | 704 | 2003-2024 |
| 4 | Anil Kumble | India | 132 | 619 | 1990-2008 |
| 5 | Stuart Broad | England | 167 | 604 | 2007-2023 |
| 6 | Nathan Lyon | Australia | 141 | 564* | 2011-Present |
| 7 | Glenn McGrath | Australia | 124 | 563 | 1993-2007 |
| 8 | Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 106 | 537 | 2011-2024 |
India
