An offspinner whose work as a curator took him from Canberra to Adelaide, Nathan Lyon completed a remarkable rise when he was picked in Australia's Test squad in July 2011. The previous year, he had taken up a job on the Adelaide Oval groundstaff, and his bowling talent was spotted by the Redbacks' Big Bash coach Darren Berry. Lyon impressed in Twenty20s for South Australia and made his first-class debut, before winning a spot in the one-day squad for Australia A's tour of Zimbabwe. A classical offspinner who flights the ball and looks for wickets, Lyon so impressed the selectors that he was chosen for the Test leg of the tour of Sri Lanka. He debuted in the first Test in Galle, and exceeded expectations, dismissing Kumar Sangakkara off his first delivery, and taking 5 for 34 in Sri Lanka's first innings.