Ashton Agar, the left-arm spinner for Australia, has come out and stated that having Nathan Lyon, one of the best off-spinners of the game, in the squad for the limited overs series in the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe is an advantage for him.
Australia has announced their squad for the tour of England where they'll be playing a 5-match ODI series, T20I match and then, a T20I triangular involving the hosts Zimbabwe and Pakistan and have selected two first eleven spinners in the same squad. The youngster Agar though doesn't feel its a threat to his prospect with the world cup 12 months away.
He was recently saying, "I actually like having two spinners there because you can bounce off each other, you can work together and you know someone always understands what you are doing, We have quite a good understanding of how each other goes about their business. If anything, it’s a positive having another spinner there."
Agar looked at the recent happenings in his career and his overall game as well. He said, "I said that to myself before the Bangladesh Test tour – I realize that was a really big opportunity for me, I had been given a CA contract. I knew that was an important point in my career. I just had that feeling"
"People always tell you that you are young and that sort of stuff, but I guess I have been around for a little while now in domestic cricket and I have been fortunate enough to play a few games for Australia. The time really is now. There is no point thinking about age or anything like that. From when I was 19, when I played my first Test, to 24, that’s gone really quickly. But the good thing is, there has been a lot of cricket between then, a lot of experience."
Agar talked about the upcoming phase of playing under Justin Langer as the head coach internationally, after having worked with the former Test opener in the Big Bash League for Perth Scorchers. He said, "It's a perfect time for him to step into this role after a bit of trouble. He cares about you first as a person and then as a cricketer,"
"You know he has got your back all the time, no matter who you are, if you are in his team. He has so much to give (and) I have got so much more to learn from him even though I have had him as a coach for the past five years. Even he would say he has grown as a person and learned so much over his time coaching at the WACA. (The players) have been lucky enough to witness him evolve as a person and as a coach"
"He is extremely calm now. Even though over past years he had been built up to this scary, intense sort of bloke, he is extremely calm. He is very understanding. He knows what to do and when to do it."
(Inputs from Cricket.com.au)
