WTC Final 2025 is a crucial step towards becoming one of Australia’s greatest teams: Nathan Lyon

According to Nathan Lyon, Australia’s aspirations to rank among the greatest Test teams of all time will take a major turn in 2025 when they play in the ICC World Test Championship Final.

Nathan Lyon off-spinner will play in the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023–25 cycle against South Africa at Lord’s as a member of Andrew McDonald’s team.

Nathan Lyon, who took the game-winning wicket of Mohammed Siraj in that victory, wants to build on the development that has been achieved since Australia defeated India by 209 runs at The Oval in 2023 to win the title again.

He stated, “It is crucial that we view this week as a time for celebration.” “As a team, we should be extremely pleased of the tremendous success we’ve had over the past two years, both at home and abroad. We’re on a path to being a great Australian squad, in my opinion. I know we’re not there yet, but that’s also our objective. Another step up that ladder is this game.

With 67.54 percent of the available points, Australia finished second in the league table during the 2023–25 WTC season. They won four of the six series they played, making them the only country to win a series during that time. Only the table-topping Proteas’ 69.44% exceeded their percentage.

Nathan Lyon, a native of New South Wales, has taken 56 wickets in 18 games against South Africa in his career and anticipates a tough matchup with Temba Bavuma’s team.

“Yes, we’ve been here before, but in this World Test Championship, South Africa qualified first,” he added. “They deserve the home changing room before this game because they’ve done something incredibly well to finish first over the past two years. Cricket is being played internationally. We anticipate a very difficult task, and there will be many issues, but we must be competent enough to address them as soon as possible.

Five of Australia’s bowlers were chosen from the top 14 in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling rankings, giving them a lot of firepower for this match. On that list, Lyon is ranked fifth, followed by Josh Hazlewood in fourth place, skipper Pat Cummins in third, Mitchell Starc in eleventh place, and Scott Boland in fourteenth.

With only India’s Jasprit Bumrah ahead of them with 77 wickets, Cummins (73), Starc (72) and Lyon (66) are currently ranked two through four on the list of top wicket-takers for this WTC.

 Nathan Lyon said that having several seasoned and talented bowlers in the Australian squad is just raising training standards.

“As a bowling team, we are really pleased with where we are right now,” he stated. However, we’re not ignoring anything and are continuously working to improve as a bowling team. That, in my opinion, motivates us all to improve.

Many members of the team have since seized the chance to play on the beaches of the former opponent. Australia last played Test cricket in England during the 2023 Ashes series, which was the first match of the 2023–25 WTC cycle.

While Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, and Beau Webster have played for Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire this season, respectively, Nathan Lyon was a member of Lancashire in 2024.

In just five County Championship Division 2 games, Green has amassed 467 runs at an average of 66.71, making his time in England especially remarkable. In mid-May, he defeated Kent with match-winning knocks of 128 and 67 not out, among his three hundreds. Additionally, Lyon believes that the 26-year-old will gain a lot of knowledge from his time in the West Country.

“Having Greeny here has been fantastic,” he continued. “I believe he has performed admirably in four or five Gloucestershire games. With any luck, that will give him the confidence to continue where he left off. Coming over here to play county cricket is crucial, especially for the younger guys like Greeny. You seem to learn a lot about how the Dukes ball goes around, how the overhead conditions affect the game, and how the game is played over here in these settings.