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Australia shockingly dropped star spinner Nathan Lyon from their playing XI for the third Test against West Indies which was set to be played in day-night conditions and with the pink ball. The visitors decided to go for an all-pace attack for the match at Sabina Park and included Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland into the playing XI.
The surprising thing here was that Lyon was dropped from the XI even though he was just two wickets away from surpassing Glenn McGrath's tally of 563 Test wickets and become the Australian bowler with the second-most scalps in the format.
After making the shocking decision, national selector Tony Dodemaide explained the reason behind dropping Lyon to reporters in Kingston. He revealed that it was just a data-driven decision and that there was nothing more to it.
"He wants to play every game. He's a great competitor, and he believes he can be effective in any conditions, but he's a team man as well. Understands the right thing for the team, and he'll do his best to support the guys. But I said it's a one-off. It's no reflection on performance for Nathan, it's simply the best way we think we can win this game. It's not something we generally want to do, and, fair to say, certainly wasn't front of mind when we first got here," Dodemaide stated.
Australia's struggles with the bat continued in the third Test
Meanwhile, Australia's batting woes continued during the first innings of the third Test as the pace-duo of Jayden Seales and Shamar Joseph once again ripped them apart. The former recorded figures of 3/59 while the latter finished with a four-wicket haul, giving away just 33 runs. Seamer Justin Greaves picked up the remaining three scalps as the Baggy Greens only managed to put up 225 runs on the board before getting bowled out. Steve Smith was the top-scorer for the visitors with his inning of 48.
In reply, West Indies also lost a wicket in the final nine overs of the first day as Mitchell Starc dismissed Kevlon Anderson for just three runs. The hosts wrapped up the day on 16/1 and trail their opponents by 209 runs ahead of Day 2.
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