Not Hardik Pandya Or Ben Stokes! Nathan Lyon Picks Destructive All-Rounder As Next Jacques Kallis Of Cricket

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon feels that all-rounder Cameron Green could be the next Jacques Kallis of international cricket. Lyon said he played against Green in the Sheffield Shield tournament and the batter gave him a lot of headaches.

Notably, the retirement of David Warner paved the way for Australia to try Steve Smith as an opener, with Labuschagne moving to three and Cameron Green at four. The second Test between Australia and West Indies is evenly poised, with Australia at 60-2, needing another 156 runs to win. Steve Smith (33) and Cameron Green (9) are the crease. Lyon said that the team is confident of pulling off a win in the second Test.

"There is so much confidence in that change room around all the guys and not just Smithy batting at No.1 and Cameron at number four," Lyon said as quoted by the West Australian. "I have had the challenge of bowling to Greeny in Shield cricket with him batting at No.4 and he has given me a lot of headaches. I actually enjoy seeing him bat at number four and I feel like he could be the next Jacques Kallis of international cricket at number four," he added.

Kallis was one of the greatest cricketers to play Test cricket. The South African legend averaged 55 with the bat and 32 with the ball across 166 Tests, scoring 45 centuries and accounting for 292 wickets. Meanwhile, Green has an average of 46 with the bat while he averages 33 with the ball in first-class cricket.

He gave a glimpse of his potential when he notched up a brilliant century in India last year but it was followed by a string of low scores which forced Australia to replace him with Mitchell Marsh in the Ashes. However, Warner's retirement has once again got Green back in the reckoning.

Lyon also brushed aside concerns regarding Steve Smith, who is going through a lean patch, and called him the biggest problem solver he has played cricket with.

"I don't need to talk about Smithy; his numbers speak for themselves," Lyon said. "There has been no-one worried about Smithy's form. We are talking about arguably the greatest player of the last decade and there is a lot of talk about his batting. I sit here and laugh because he is arguably the best problem solver I have ever played with," he added