Nathan Michael Lyon (born 20 November 1987 in Young, New South Wales) is an Australian cricketer. He holds the record for the most Test wickets taken by an Australian off-spin bowler, after passing Hugh Trumble's 141 wickets in 2015, thus earning the nickname amongst teammates of "GOAT", which stands for "Greatest of All Time".
Nathan Lyon moved from Young to Canberra as a teenager where he went on to play for ACT Cricket's under-17s and under-19s 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. During his time with Comets Lyon was mentored by captain, and later captain-coach, Mark Higgs, who helped him in his spin bowling, getting his bowling action right as well as the tactical side including what lines to bowl and fields to set. After Lyon left the Comets he continued to keep in contact with Higgs in regards to the game.
In 2010 Nathan Lyon moved to Adelaide and worked as a member of the ground staff team at the Adelaide Oval. He played for the Prospect Cricket Club in the South Australian Grade Cricket League while continuing playing for the Comets in the Futures League. After Lyon's performance in the 2010 Futures League Twenty20 in December for the Comets in Melbourne which South Australia's Twenty20 coach Darren Berry witnessed he was selected to play for the Southern Redbacks in the KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.
