Australia's premier Test spinner Nathan Lyon has penned a three-year deal with Melbourne Renegades to play in the Big Bash League until the 2025-26 season. Lyon's move to the Renegades has now ended his long-term association with three-time champions Sydney Sixers., Lyon hasn't featured in a T20I for Australia in almost five years. But at Renegades, he will team up with Australia's first-choice spinner in limited-overs cricket, Adam Zampa. The legspinner recently made the move to Renegades having played for Melbourne Stars before that. "I'm absolutely thrilled to be part of the Melbourne Renegades," Lyon said. "(Marvel Stadium's) a place where I enjoy bowling, it tends to spin a little bit. I'm looking forward to hopefully joining up with 'Zamps' in a really good partnership and putting a show on for the Renegades fans.
"I've got some really good friends who are part of the Melbourne Renegades, and that's one of the reasons I wanted to come down. There's a good group of senior players there who I've played a lot of cricket with internationally and also domestically, then you look at the younger guys throughout the roster - it's a pretty powerful squad in my eyes. I think we need to set the benchmark high, shoot for the finals and make sure we go and try to lift the trophy. "Prior to his stint with Sixers, Lyon began his career in the BBL by representing Adelaide Strikers. However, owing to national commitments, the 35-year-old has played only 38 games in the BBL so far, picking up 44 wickets at an economy rate of 7.18.Lyon is currently recovering from a calf injury that ruled him out of the final three Tests of the recently-concluded Ashes. He is expected to recover in time and feature in Australia's Test summer that begins on December 14 against Pakistan. Renegades begin their campaign on December 8. The final Test of the summer against West Indies is scheduled to get underway the day after the BBL final. If Lyon does play all five Tests scheduled at home this summer, he will miss the majority of the games this season.
