The spinner tipped to replace Nathan Lyon for Boxing Day Test – and the other contenders

2 months ago 6

Former Test spinner Bryce McGain expects Victorian hometown hero Todd Murphy to win a Boxing Day call-up in the absence of Nathan Lyon, who is expected to miss the showpiece event of the cricketing summer.

Lyon finished the third Test in Adelaide on crutches, having been forced from the field on the final day after clutching at his right hamstring while fielding at fine leg.

The 38-year-old off-spinner has yet to be officially ruled out of the Boxing Day Test, beginning on Friday at the MCG, but skipper Pat Cummins said it was unlikely he would play either in Melbourne or Sydney.

Spinner Todd Murphy is a contender to replace the injured Nathan Lyon.

National selectors have several potential replacements to consider, or they could go with a four-man pace attack and turn to Travis Head’s part-time spin. Allrounder Beau Webster could also return and bowl off-spin, as he did in Shield cricket before turning to medium pace.

But McGain said the bespectacled Murphy, who has played all seven of his Tests in either India, England or Sri Lanka, is the favourite to claim the role.

“I think they will go to the player that played for Australia A [this year] and … that has the ability to bowl at the MCG, and his experience there helps as well, the hometown hero as well, Toddy Murphy,” McGain told SEN on Monday.

“I think it will be Murphy that will come in, but they can go any of those ways and I don’t think it will be a bad call. So, they could go [Matt] Kuhnemann and play him, that makes sense, or [Corey] Rocchiccioli, yeah, he is doing really well, 20 wickets at the WACA, turn and bounce … and he bowled well in Victoria just recently as well.

“We have options, we will be fine. They won’t be the GOAT [Lyon] just yet, but they will be really good.”

State cricket sources, who wished to remain anonymous, said Murphy was still widely regarded as Lyon’s heir apparent despite being axed from Cricket Australia’s central contract list. He replaced Lyon in the XI when the latter was hurt during the 2023 Ashes series, and 10 wickets in four Sheffield Shield games this season.

Rocchiccioli, 28, is considered a bolter. Test great Mark Waugh declared through the third Test he had “snuck under the radar”. But the steady off-spinner has strong form to back his claims, with 20 wickets at 28.2 through six Shield games.

He has been the most prolific Shield spinner over the past three summers, a particularly impressive performance considering he regularly plays on the speed-friendly WACA pitches, and has caught the eye of selectors on Australia A tours.

Kuhnemann, 29, has played all five of his Tests either in India or Sri Lanka where he has often had to fire the ball into the deck. However, the left-arm finger spinner has also shown the ability to flight the ball, and is now fit having battled injury through the early stages of the Shield season.

Leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson, 32, has not played a Test since the 2022 Sri Lanka tour, but has more wickets than any spinner this season – 21 at 36.04. This includes a 10-wicket haul against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

Cummins has admitted that he too is unlikely to feature in the Boxing Day Test, the star striker needing to give his back more rest after missing the opening two Tests.