Lyon puts pressure on England spinners ahead of Ashes series

Australia veteran Nathan Lyon believes spin will play a major role in deciding who wins the eagerly-awaited battle for the Ashes later this year and has predicted a surprise pick to lead the way in this role for England.

Lyon spoke to reporters during a Cricket Australia sponsorship announcement in Sydney on Thursday and provided plenty of insight into the current plight of the Aussies' Ashes rivals and in particular their spin contingent ahead of the Ashes series on home soil that commences in November.

England will enter the upcoming fifth and final ICC World Test Championship contest without a frontline spinner, as first-choice tweaker Shoaib Bashir recovers from injury and the likes of Liam Dawson and Rehan Ahmed remain out of favour.

It means part-timers Joe Root and Jacob Bethell will take up the majority of the spin bowling responsibility for England in The Oval contest and Lyon suggests the side will need to re-jig their plans prior to the first Test against his team in Perth from November 21.

Lyon thinks England's spin bowling stocks are low and believes veteran left-armer Jack Leach - who hasn't played Test cricket since October last year - remains their best option for the Ashes.

"I obviously played with Jimmy Anderson last year at Lancashire, and he basically said that they're picking Bashir to do what I do," Lyon said.

"So I took a little bit of pride out of Jimmy respecting a little bit of what I've been able to do in my career. But Bashir has been OK.

"Jacob Bethell is playing this Test match (at The Oval against India), and he looks like he'll take up the spin bowling from Liam Dawson. But in my eyes, Jack Leach is still their best spinner."

It's the second time recently that Lyon has delved into England's state of affairs, after the veteran chimed in earlier this week to provide some thoughts on the frustrating end to the fourth Test with India in Manchester that ended in a draw.

While Lyon has had plenty to say about England of late, the veteran right-armer also has his own concerns to consider after he was left out of Australia's side for their most recent Test match against the West Indies in Jamaica.

The reigning World Test Championship runners up opted for an all-out pace attack for the day-night contest and were rewarded for their bold ploy by recording an emphatic 176-run victory at Sabina Park, but Lyon expects conditions to be vastly different on home soil during the Ashes and is keen to see how England's spin attack perform.

"It is a massive role, and it can be a massive challenge for people who haven't done it in the past in these conditions," Lyon said.

"But I'm not going to let my secrets out so they come out and perform well out here. Our guys know how to play spin really well in this country. That's probably what helped me produce my skill to where it is at the moment. I know I'll keep trying getting better, and we'll see how their spinners go."