Steve Smith: “No doubt his name is going to continue to be talked about in one-day cricket”

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Australia captain Steve Smith has admitted that spinner Nathan Lyon has been in red-hot form as of late and cannot continue being ignored when it comes to ODI cricket.

Smith’s comments come after national selector Mark Waugh conceded that Lyon was “bowling too well to ignore”.

After enjoying a lot of success during Ashes, where he took 21 wickets at an average of 29.23, Lyon has been representing the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL) and has picked up six wickets in three matches at an average of 9.83 and an economy rate of 4.91.

Furthermore, with Australia also dropping go-to spinner Adam Zampa for the second ODI against England in Brisbane, there have been mounting calls for Lyon to be drafted into the squad.

Zampa failed to have an impact in the first ODI in Melbourne as he finished with career-worst figures of 0-72.

Speaking about Lyon, Smith said: “I’m sure it’ll be talked about; he’s obviously had an exceptional summer with the red ball and he’s gone and started to bowl really well in the Big Bash.

“No doubt his name is going to continue to be talked about in one-day cricket.”

Meanwhile, Smith was at a loss of words to explain Australia’s terrible form in ODIs as they have now lost nine of their last 10 matches in the format, which is their worst 10-game span in ODI history.

“I don’t know the answer to that, I wish I did,” he said. “I think in the last 10 games we’ve got ourselves into some reasonable positions and haven’t been able to take advantage of them, like today.

“We went in without the spinner on this occasion and tried to make our batting a little deeper and that obviously didn’t work as well as we would’ve liked. We’re still trying to find the right balance.”

With Australia 2-0 down in the ODI series, Smith is hoping his side can bounce back and avoid losing the series in the third match in Sydney.