Exceptionally committed, exceptionally driven. But above all else, Nathan Lyon was always exceptionally superstitious.
Joe Cooke says his former Western District-UC teammate just never liked odd numbers. God help anybody that changed a number on the Jamison Oval scoreboard to 87 – if that happened "it was the end of the world".
Nathan Lyon was never one for odd numbers.Credit:Elesa Kurtz
But the extreme Lyon took his disdain for odd numbers to?
"I know this from one of his ex-housemates, if he happened to pull it into the driveway with his odometer on an odd number, he would reverse back out and drive far enough to change that," Cooke laughed.
"I can’t say I witnessed that myself but I certainly was told that. The complete irony of that was the address he drove into was number 13.
"His entire life was cricket at that stage. He played so much of it, it was his work, he lived it seven days a week. He took the opportunity to move to Adelaide for the work-related side of things and the rest is history.
"It’s amazing to think someone you grew up playing grade cricket and underage youth carnivals with goes on to live their dream of playing with their country."
The entire Wests club was beaming when their man made his Test debut in 2011 – cap No. 421 for those playing along at home – and a hearty contingent will be on hand to cheer one of the club's favourite sons on the weekend of the club’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
But instead of catching up with old mates, Lyon has been thrust into the role of the Australian team's tour guide with Justin Langer's squad paying a visit to the Australian War Memorial on Wednesday afternoon.
It was a fitting time for reflection as Australia prepare to meet Sri Lanka in what is nearing a sold-out Manuka Oval for the opening three days of the Test beginning on Friday.
Brendan Lyon, Ryan Carters and Nathan Lyon after winning the 2007-08 Douglas Cup with Wests-UC.
A Test match for his country at Manuka Oval is far removed from preparing the deck as a groundskeeping apprentice under Brad Van Dam, often for local grade cricket games he was playing in with Western District-UC.
Lyon took 116 wickets in five seasons for Wests – now he is within striking distance of becoming the fourth Australian bowler in history to take 350 Test scalps, currently perched at 341 through 85 matches.
Australian cricket's everyman will inevitably leapfrog one DK Lillee (355) into third on Australia's leading wicket-takers list. While suggesting he could do it in the capital would be a stretch, there would be no better place.
"Obviously I have a well-documented history here at Manuka Oval… playing at Westies up the road and captaining there and having a great time," Lyon said.
"But then to be here 10 years later and playing in the first ever Test match at Manuka Oval, where I used to work on, it is pretty special.
"It will have those moments. I know I’ve got a lot of family coming over from Young. It’s going to be a pretty special moment when we sing the national anthem out there.
"Especially when I get the opportunity to bowl out there. I’ve got a lot of history on the ground, it’s one of my favourite grounds for obvious reasons.
"When you get the opportunity to play in front of a lot of friends and family it becomes a lot more special."
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