Australian veteran spinner Nathan Lyon’s latest Ashes milestone was celebrated with wickets, boards and a moment of pure humor as Glenn McGrath jokingly “threw a chair” into the commentary box after being overtaken by an off-spinner on the all-Test list. What began as a routine morning session in Adelaide quickly turned into an unforgettable chapter in Australian cricket folklore.
Returning to the XI after being left out of the second Test, Lyon wasted little time in making his presence felt on day two of the third Ashes Test. The veteran, who introduced himself in the 10th over, struck twice in four balls to swing hard towards Australia. First he had Ollie Pope play forward to spin and Josh Inglis completed a sharp catch at midwicket. The wicket took Lyon level with McGrath on 563 Test scalps.
AUS vs ENG, Ashes 3rd Test in Adelaide: Update
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Glenn McGrath’s reaction to being passed on the list of all Test wickets by Nathan Lyon was absolutely laughable. #Ash pic.twitter.com/1jTM06M8me
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 18, 2025
Three balls later, history was being rewritten. Lyon drifted one to Ben Duckett, beat the left-hander’s bat and hit the stumps for his 564th wicket. As the record fell, television cameras cut to McGrath in the commentary box, where the superbowling great reacted with feigned annoyance, pretending to throw a chair before bursting into laughter – a moment that quickly went viral.
Lyon’s double strikes left England reeling at 42 for three, after an earlier breakthrough by Pat Cummins, who dismissed Zak Crawley. Australia were earlier bowled out for 371 after going on to 326 for eight, with Jofra Archer finishing with a five-wicket haul. Mitchell Starc provided late resistance with a fluent half-century before Archer wrapped up the tail.
With his two wickets, Lyon moved into sixth on the all-time Test wicket-taking list and became Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker, now behind only the legendary Shane Warne, who finished his career with 708 wickets. At 38, Lyon is also the highest active wicket-taker in Test cricket and the fourth most successful spinner overall, trailing only Muttiah Muralitharan, Warne and Anil Kumble.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
December 18, 2025
