Lyon overtakes Benaud on Test wickets list
The humble GOAT of Australian cricket has notched another spin milestone on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh.
Already Australia's best offspinner in terms of wickets- earning him the Greatest of All Time nickname from teammates - Nathan Lyon has surpassed Richie Benaud as the second-best spinner in Australian Test history.
Lyon took his career tally to 249 Test wickets when he had Mehedi Hasan caught by Peter Handscomb at short leg to leave Bangladesh at 7-240 in the final session.
He had earlier claimed the big wicket of Shakib Al Hasan, who was caught by Steve Smith at first slip on 84 off a delivery which spun sharply away from the left-hander.
While it's unlikely he'll ever come close to Shane Warne's 708 Test dismissals, overtaking Benaud is still a huge feat for a player whose spot in the side has rarely seemed assured.
After struggling during a 3-0 series loss in Sri Lanka, Lyon was on the cusp of being dropped in the recent summer.
But changes to his technique which netted him 19 wickets during this year's tour of India paid off, with Australian coach Darren Lehmann backing him as the squad's "premier spinner".
Lyon played down his looming milestone ahead of the first Test in Dhaka.
"It'll be nice but I've always said from day one ... at the end of my career, I'll look back and see where I get to," Lyon said.
"But I'm not here to make milestones, I'm here to win series and games of cricket for Australia."
Lyon said he was lucky to have met Benaud several times, although the prospect of their records colliding wasn't on the radar when they spoke.
"I was a long way off him then - I don't think he ever thought I'd get there," Lyon said.
"He was just a nice, humble guy.
"Obviously he was an Australian cricket legend. He was someone very special to the Australian cricket team."
MOST TEST WICKETS TAKEN BY AUSTRALIAN SPINNERS
* Shane Warne, 708 wickets
* Nathan Lyon, 249*
* Richie Benaud, 248
* Clarrie Grimmett, 216
* Stuart MacGill, 208
