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Former Australia captain Mark Taylor believes it will not be a surprise if veteran spinner Nathan Lyon is excluded from the playing eleven for the first Ashes Test, beginning on November 21 in Perth. Although Lyon is on the verge of making his 140th Test appearance, Taylor thinks he could be sidelined if the Australian think tank opts to play an all-rounder like Cameron Green to strengthen the batting depth and seam bowling options. “If Green is fit, he will play. When I say fit, I mean fit to bowl. In my view, unfortunately, Webster doesn’t play. They’ve got to get Green back into the side, but he has to bowl a few overs. Webster would be the unlucky one.” “Don’t be surprised, though, Australia has already done this once this year, if someone like Nathan Lyon doesn’t play in the first Test,” Taylor said, as quoted by Nine’s Wide World of Sports on Sunday. Lyon, 37, is the all-time leading Test wicket-taker at Perth Stadium, with 29 wickets at an average of less than 21. “The only other way they can go is by playing all their quicks along with Webster and Green, and not having an off-spinner. “They’ve got Travis Head and Beau himself who bowl a few offies. They might do that for Perth, which I don’t particularly like. I think Nathan has to play, but don’t be surprised if that happens,” Taylor added. He also called for uncapped batter Jake Weatherald to make his debut as a top-order batter in the crucial first Test and felt dropping teenage batter Sam Konstas was likely. “I’m not surprised he hasn’t made the final 15. I really hope that Jake Weatherald plays. There is a lot of discussion around the batting, but I really hope he plays. I think they’ve got to start settling on an opening batting combination. Usman (Khawaja) is 39 in two weeks’ time, so he is not going to be playing for too much longer. “They’ve got to bring in a younger player – Jake is not that young, mind you, he is 31. But he has a few years left in him and he deserves that selection. So well done to him, I hope he plays at the top of the order,” Taylor concluded. (With Agency Inputs)
