Nathan Lyon’s absence and Joe Root’s century put Gabba Test under the spotlight

Lyon then spent a harrowing hour or so twirling a rugby ball in the outfield – the same thing he had done when he fell off the bench in another pink-ball match in Jamaica.

While it was undoubtedly logical for the Australian selectors to dismiss captain Pat Cummins as he would be under bowling restrictions, local seam bowling specialist Michael Neser’s call to leave out Lyon was highly controversial.

Without a slow bowler in Brisbane, Australia risked giving too much of the same to England when the pink ball lost its morale early on. Root managed to make the most of his familiar bowling rhythm as the superb Mitchell Starc picked up another six wickets and Neser and Scott Boland also stepped in.

Australia’s over-rate was abysmal – just 74 overs in 6.5 hours of bowling – and Steve Smith was out of ideas in an unbeaten 10th wicket stand of 61 between Root and Jofra Archer.

Lyon are clearly unhappy with the decision and selection chairman George Bailey admitted as much when trying to explain why the panel skipped the batsman. Significantly, England had chosen to include one on Will Jacks.

Loading

Earlier this year, Lyon explained why he felt spin bowling should rarely be removed from the Test match attack mix, saying it provided a vital change if bowlers were unable to beat the pace.

“Everyone focuses on the first 10 overs of a game and then usually the last few overs and how to win the match,” Lyon told this imprint. “But there’s a big part of the game where it can be quite difficult to create chances or change momentum. I feel spin bowlers have the opportunity to do that, so I’ll always fight for spin bowlers and that’s my biggest concern.”

Lyon’s anger when the Jamaica decision was made was partly due to the fact that it meant Mitchell Starc would miss his 100th Test. Boland’s hat-trick against the weak West Indies team made the decision moot.

But this time the call hurts because in Australia, in Brisbane and in pink-ball games, Lyon have been a force for the home team for more than a decade. At the Gabba, Lyon have 52 wickets in 28.82 of their 14 matches, often making vital breakthroughs with quick strikes between spells.

And in day/night matches Lyon has an even better record; He adds, in his own understated way, to Australia’s formidable record of success when the pink ball comes out, picking up 43 wickets at 25.62. In the last pink-ball match against the West Indies at the Gabba, Lyon took five wickets in a match Australia needed to finish.

As if to underline that Lyon is still an important part of the team, Bailey made the unusual move on Thursday to declare that the spinner would definitely play the next match of the series in Adelaide, downplaying his absence in two of Australia’s last three Tests.

“I wouldn’t want to go down a road where you say it’s all wickets or it’s all about the way the game is played. [the] Bailey said the game didn’t get deep until the fourth and fifth days.

“It’s a combination of things, and it’s emphasized by ‘Gas’ because there’s been years where he’s had the ability to throw long spells every now and then, to stifle things, and it hasn’t quite worked out that way yet.”

Loading

And at the Gabba on Thursday afternoon, the time looked pretty accurate, as Stuart Broad observed in the Seven commentary box.

“I always felt like he took on England in Australia,” he said, “and it was like [Australia] “With this election, we gave England a bit of an advantage.”

Australia’s leaders made a call that confused England after Travis Head moved up in Perth. They may have outdone themselves by leaving Lyon out here.