Nathan Michael Lyon is an Australian international cricketer. He made his Test debut in 2011 and plays domestic cricket for New South Wales. Lyon is an off-spin bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman. Considered the most successful off-spin bowler of all time for Australia, Lyon holds the record for the most Test wickets taken by an Australian off-spin bowler, passing Hugh Trumble's 141 wickets in 2015. A classical offspinner who flights the ball and looks for wickets, Lyon struck with his first delivery in Test cricket when he had Kumar Sangakkara caught at slip in Galle. It was part of a haul of 5 for 34 and the beginning of a career that would end Australia's cycle of churning through Test spinners in the post-Warne era.

Lyon was born in Young, New South Wales. He moved from Young to Canberra as a teenager where he went on to play for ACT Cricket's under-17s and under-18s representative teams. Lyon played for Western Districts and University of Canberra Cricket Club in ACT Grade cricket and debuted for the ACT Comets in 2008 in the Cricket Australia Cup against the South Australian Second XI where he claimed a wicket on day one. In 2010, Lyon moved to Adelaide and worked as a member of the ground staff team at the Adelaide Oval. After Lyon's performance in the 2010 Futures League Twenty20 he was selected to play for the Southern Redbacks in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.

In 2010/11 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash Lyon was the leading wicket-taker where the Redbacks went on to win the competition. Lyon went on to play for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield and the Australian domestic limited-overs competition. In the same year he was selected to represent Australia A in Zimbabwe where he took 11 wickets in the tri-series to be named man of the series. Lyon signed to play in the inaugural season of the Big Bash League for the Adelaide Strikers. On 26 July 2011, Lyon was selected in the Australian Test squad for the tour to Sri Lanka in 2011. He took two wickets for Australia against the Sri Lanka Board XI in the three-day warm-up match.

Lyon made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Galle on 31 August 2011, he had his Baggy Green cap presented to him by Greg Chappell. Lyon took his first wicket off his first ball in Test cricket on 1 September 2011, his victim was Kumar Sangakkara. With this feat he became the third Australian (and seventeenth international player) to take his first wicket off his first ball in Test cricket, and the first Australian since Arthur Coningham, in 1894. He finished with 5/34 in his first innings, becoming the 131st player to take five wickets on debut in a Test match.

In November 2011, Lyon became just the seventh number 11 batsman to have the top score in his team's innings, when he scored 14 in Australia's second-innings total of 47 in the 1st Test against South Africa. Lyon played his first Test in Australia at the Gabba starting on 1 December 2011 against New Zealand in the first Test match of the series. Lyon took 4/69 in the first innings and 3/19 in his second innings, culminating in match figures of 7/88, the best Test match bowling figures by an Australian off-spinner at the venue.

In April 2013, Lyon was named as the only spinner in the upcoming 2013 Ashes series for the Australian squad. It held true until hours before the first match when he was dropped from out of the lineup in favour of shock debutant Ashton Agar, who then went on to score 98 on his Test debut, which was also a world record for a no. 11 batsman. However, Lyon was recalled to the team for the third Ashes Test, and in the fourth Ashes Test, he took figures of 4/42 on the first day to help restrict England to 238 in their first innings. In December 2013, during the Boxing Day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Lyon took his 100th Test wicket and also his first five wicket haul in Australia. He became just the sixth Australian off-spinner to take 100 Test wickets.

In January 2014, Lyon became only the second cricketer ever to not be dismissed in any innings during a five-Test series. Lyon made 60 runs during his six innings, with a strike rate of 52.63. In 13 December 2014, Lyon was named man of the match in the first Test of the Border–Gavaskar Trophy series against India at the Adelaide Oval after taking a personal best haul for the match of 5/134 in the first innings and 7/152 in the second. This was the first match the Australian team had played after the death of Phillip Hughes just two weeks earlier.

In July 2016, Lyon became the first Australian off-spinner to take 200 Test wickets. He achieved this feat during the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Pallekele Cricket Stadium by dismissing Dhananjaya de Silva. During the 2016 Test series between Australia and South Africa, the phrase "Nice, Garry!" became affectionately associated with Lyon after wicketkeeper Matthew Wade repeatedly yelled it after every ball bowled by the spinner (a joking reference to the Melbourne FC footballer Garry Lyon). This phrase was adopted by cricket fans throughout Australia, elevating Lyon to cult-hero status. It was the catchcry which took control of Australian cricket over summer of 2017, as wicketkeeper Matthew Wade was heard bellowing out the now-famous call after nearly every delivery sent down by Nathan “Garry” Lyon.

The most famous ‘Nice, Garry’ moment, of course, came during the Boxing Day Test when tens of thousands of fans pledged to belt it out during Lyon’s third ball of his first over. Then Lyon ruined the moment. Instead of a collective “Nice, Garry” from the 40,000-strong showing early in the day, the result was a mixture of Garry and sheer jubilation because the off-spinner had snared the scalp of Pakistan opener Sami Aslam – caught by skipper Steve Smith at slip.

In March 2017, in the second Test between Australia and India in Bangalore as part of the 2017 Australian tour of India, Lyon took figures of 8/50 and finished with the best figures ever recorded in India by a visiting bowler. In August 2017, Lyon became the 8th Australian bowler and the second Australian spinner after Shane Warne to take 250 Test wickets. In the second Test between Australia and Bangladesh in Chittagong as part of the 2017 Australian tour, Lyon took match figures of 13/154 and finished with the best figures ever recorded in Asia by an Australian bowler. He also took the most wickets in a two-Test series by an Australian bowler (22).

In March 2018, Lyon was fined 15 per cent of his match fee for a breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during the first Test against South Africa in Durban. Lyon took his 300th Test wicket during the 3rd Test in Cape Town by dismissing Kagiso Rabada out stumped. In April 2018, he was awarded a national contract by Cricket Australia for the 2018/19 season. Lyon was awarded the Men's Test Player of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in 2019. In April 2019, he was named in Australia's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. In July 2019, he was named in Australia's squad for the 2019 Ashes series in England. In the first Test of the 2019 Ashes, his figures of 3/112 in the first innings 6/49 in the second innings helped Australia to win a Test at Edgbaston for the first time in 19 years.

During the first match of the 2021–22 Ashes series, Lyon took his 400th Test wicket by dismissing Dawid Malan. In March 2023, Lyon become the highest wicket-taker in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy during the second day of the third test in Indore with a total of 112 wickets. He finished the match with figures of 11/99, taking 3 wickets in the first innings and 8 in the second, earning him player of the match honours.

In the first test of the 2023 Ashes series at Edgbaston, Lyon took figures of 4/149 and 4/80 in each innings. In the fourth innings, Lyon came to crease with Australia 8/227, 54 runs short of the winning target of 281. Forming a 55 run partnership with Pat Cummins, Lyon helped Australia to an unlikely two wicket win, ending the match with 16 not out off of 28 deliveries. In the second test of the series at Lord's, Lyon became the first specialist bowler in history to play 100 consecutive test matches, a streak that dated back to the 2013 Ashes series a decade prior. He recorded his 496th test wicket in the first innings by dismissing Zak Crawley before succumbing to a significant calf strain on day 2, which prevented him from bowling in the remainder of the test.

Lyon returned to test cricket in December 2023 for the match between Pakistan and Australia in Perth. He took his 500th test wicket by dismissing Faheem Ashraf lbw after a review. Just two balls later Lyon got his 501st test wicket by bowling Aamer Jamal. He finished the match with five wickets in all, which helped Australia to a comprehensive victory by 360 runs.

Lyon has achieved a number of honours for his performances. He has been named to the ICC Test Team of the Year three times and was the recipient of the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year award in 2019 and 2024. NATHAN LYON was named in the ICC Test Team of the Year in 2018, 2019, 2022. He was name Australian Men's Test Player of the Year: 2019, 2024. He was also named Sheffield Shield Player of the Year: 2020-21.