Nathan Lyon upbeat about possibility of bowling in partnership with Steve O’Keefe in Bangladesh series

Nathan Lyon upbeat about possibility of bowling in partnership with Steve O'Keefe in Bangladesh series

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon is upbeat about the prospect of bowling with New South Wales teammate Steve O’Keefe in Australia colours against Bangladesh in the upcoming two-Test series. Lyon and Keefe have bowled together only once for Australia in Test match previously against Pakistan in United Arab Emirates (UAE). They did not find much success in that game. But Lyon is confident of things to turn around this time around. Most recently, Keefe put in strong performances for Australia A against India A in the latter’s backyard, which prompted selectors to go with him in the squad for the Bangladesh tour. ALSO READ: Steve O’Keefe banks on UAE experience for Bangladesh campaign

“‘SOK’ and I bowl well together so hopefully we can bowl in tandem and spin Australia to a couple of victories,” Lyon told News Corp as reported by cricket.com.au. “Losing Pat (Cummins) is a big loss, especially with the pace that he’s able to bowl at. It’s going to be a big role for Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Andrew Fekete, Steve O’Keefe and myself to do the majority of the bowling. O’Keefe too says the experiences of bowling in the UAE, and observing the Pakistani spinners in action, has benefited his bowling.

“Looking back on time I had in the UAE … their spinners bowled generally a lot flatter, tried to lock the batters on the crease and bowl with that rounder seam,” Lyon told cricket.com.au. “So it’s hard as a batter to predict if the ball’s going to slide on or if it’s going to turn.