Cricket: Groundsman a left-field pick

One of Andrew Hilditch's last acts as Australian cricket selector may yet prove a masterstroke after Nathan Lyon, a 23-year-old off-spinner who has put his job tending the Adelaide Oval on hold, revelled in an unexpected introduction to test cricket.

Australia and Sri Lanka compete for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, offering a weighty reminder of what any slow bowler has to live up to, but Lyon has made an impressive fist of it. The off-spinner, playing his sixth first-class match, took a wicket with his first ball in test cricket and ran through Sri Lanka's tail to finish with 5 for 34.

Lyon is the 12th different spinner tried but his story stands out.

Lyon grew up in Young, a small country town in New South Wales. Aged 18, he moved to Canberra to begin an apprenticeship at the Manuka Oval, the venue that hosts the Prime Minister's XI match against touring teams.

When the head curator of the Adelaide Oval retired, Lyon - who had been knocked back by South Australia after a trial - applied for a position on the ground staff.

Part of his duties included net bowling and it was there that he was spotted by Darren Berry, once Warne's state wicketkeeper.

Berry was managing the Redbacks and hurried Lyon into the Big Bash.

In June, he was chosen for Australia A's one-day series in Zimbabwe as Michael Beer and Jason Krejza were preferred for the first-class business. Krejza received a hammering from Zimbabwe's second string and so Lyon's phone rang.

There is no shortage of cautionary tales to accompany Lyon to the second test, chief among them Krejza.

The off-spinner took eight wickets in his first test innings three years ago (although he also conceded a record 215 runs).

Warne's debut was anything but notable, 1 for 150 in his first innings against India. He went wicketless the first time he bowled in Sri Lanka too amid great expectation.

For Lyon, the expectation will only grow.

- Independent