Top 5: Reasons Nathan Lyon could Captain Australia

This may be a little premature, but after witnessing Nathan Lyon score some handy runs at number 11 before going to take 5 wickets in yesterdays Boxing Day Test, it came to me that of all the younger members of the Australian squad; he is probably best placed to take up the Captaincy.

This may seem a little controversial given that he has recently been dropped & is also an off-spinner (seemingly something that keeps the Captaincy at bay), but there are (at least) 5 good reasons why Lyon should be considered, being:

5. He has 100 test wickets & is only 26 years old
With no offence to the man, it's hard to believe that someone that looks like Lyon is only 26 years old. Growing up in Young (NSW) must be very hard on a man.

Very, very hard.  (photo courtesy of celebrityhairstylez.com)

That being said, he has already played nearly 30 tests in 2 years and could easily play for another 10 if he keeps improving.

Extrapolate those numbers out and Lyon could play another 150 Tests and take another 500 Wickets.  This may be a stretch, but it Cricket is a game of numbers and even if these are at one end of the curve, they hint at a strong future.

4. He has been dropped (and more)
As mentioned already, Lyon has already been dropped in his career and he hails from Young.  He is obviously a man with the character (if not hairline) to overcome adversity.

Further to this, Lyon famously made his way into the Test team by rising from the ACT Comets to cutting the grass at the Adelaide oval, to the South Australian T20 team, to Australia A, to the national team.  This is a man who hasn't had the benefits of academies and beep-tests, but someone who has worked hard to get where they are - and the Australian public love a fighter.

3. He's from Canberra
While Lyon is from Young, he got his first start at higher cricket playing for the Comets in the ACT, so is already familiar with the territory of the second-highest office in the land, meaning that the highest office shouldn't be a stretch at all.

2. He has the song
"Under the Southern Cross" is the song that the Australian Cricket Team sings after it wins a game, with the leader or "holder" of the song being a highly-prized office within the team.  Justin Langer (scorer of nearly 8,000 test runs) has been quoted as saying that the moment he was given the song by Ricky Ponting as one of the most important of his career.

250 runs at the Boxing Day Test? Fine.  Singing a song? AWESOME! (photo courtesy of diminishinglucy.com)

Other holders of the song include Michael Hussey, Ian Healy and Rodney Marsh - all unquestionable leaders of the team.

The "holder" of the song obviously isn't given to just anyone, its given to a leader within the team who the other players rally around and the current holder is Lyon.

1. The Advanced Hair Rule
One of the least mentioned components of Lyons status is that of his diminishing hairline.  Well, perhaps not the least mentioned.

Similar to the position as holder of the song, cricket has a proud tradition of prominent players being hirsutely-challenged, including no-less than Michael Vaughan, Shane Warne and Greg Matthews, while other players (who may or may not be named Ricky Ponting) were also rumoured to be thinning.  Maybe.

I Googled "Advanced Hair" and this image came up. #justsayin

Lyon could easily tick this box in no-time too, perhaps enabling him to gain the "yeah yeah" catch phrase earlier in his career than anyone previously.

His future seemingly has limitless possibilities.