Nathan Lyon would be ready to come to Australia's aid at the ODI World Cup in India if they needed spin-bowling reinforcements as he prepares to return to action after the calf injury which ended his Ashes tour.
Lyon will be back on the park next week in grade cricket before making his state return for New South Wales in a Marsh Cup game against South Australia on October 20, followed by a Sheffield Shield comeback against Victoria at the MCG from October 26.
Currently, he is penciled in for the three Shield matches before the Test summer. He is planning to play New South Wales' home games against Western Australia and Tasmania at the SCG, starting on November 6 and November 28 respectively, but will likely be rested from the trip to Hobart for the first clash with Tasmania in between to avoid playing four in a row.
The first Test starts on December 14 against Pakistan in Perth, but Lyon believes he would be able to play a part in India should the selectors call. Ashton Agar was ruled out of the final squad with a calf injury leaving Adam Zampa as lone frontline spinner supported by Glenn Maxwell.
"I sent Andrew McDonald a text message the other day when I saw Ashton Agar was ruled out. I said, 'just to let you know, I'm back bowling 10 overs, I'm right to go, 100 percent'. If that happened I'd do anything to go over and play the World Cup," Lyon said.
"I'd be more than comfortable going in there and doing it if I had to. But in saying that there has to be a lot of things go wrong, so let's hope for Australia's sake that doesn't happen. Hopefully, they go out there and have a really good campaign and make sure they go over there to achieve what they've gone over there to do."
Legspinner Tanveer Sangha is currently a traveling reserve with the squad while Lyon backed Maxwell to be able to take on increased responsibility with the ball.
"Glenn Phillips bowled pretty well the other night against England and I feel like Maxi's skill set is up there and he's extremely confident," he said. "Hundred percent I'm backing his skill set to do the job there and when Travis Head comes back, I dare say his offbreaks will be quite effective as well."
Lyon's recovery from his series-ending calf injury at Lord's, which came during his 100th consecutive Test, has gone to plan, but he admitted there were tough times early in rehab.
"It was very challenging at the start when the guys were still playing in the Ashes," he said. "I found myself struggling a fair bit, just mentally. But apart from that, it's been going really well."
Lyon's injury proved to be a pivotal moment in the series with Australia unable to turn a 2-0 lead into a first away Ashes victory since 2001, although they did enough to retain the urn. Having seen the chance of series wins in India and England slip away this year, Lyon hinted that he hoped to be able to continue playing until the next Ashes tour in 2027 when he would be 39, with another trip to India preceding that.
"I've always wanted to win in India [and] win in England," he said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to do that in either [series] so it's made me reset and reassess where I'm at and where I want to get to as well. So probably, if an injury came at a right time, it's probably the right timing. Would have been nice if it was at the end of the series…but all in all it's allowed me to reset some goals and look pretty brightly about the future."