š Entering the Ashes with an ageing pace attack, Australia might need Nathan Lyon to step up
My Week in Sport(s) š š š ā½ļø ā¾ļø
Welcome to My Week in Sport(s) ā a regular newsletter from Plot the Ball.
Covered in this edition: š Nathan Lyon, š Connor Bedard, š Luka DonÄiÄ, ā½ļø Vicky LĆ³pez and ā¾ļø Munetaka Murakami.
š Entering the Ashes with an ageing pace attack, Australia might need Nathan Lyon to step up
To understand the danger of reading too much into the outcomes of warm-up games, all you need to do is watch some highlights of Ben Stokesā bowling performance for the England menās test cricket team in their pre-Ashes intra-squad fixture yesterday.
Odd things happen in sport all the time ā especially in odd competitive circumstances. It might be possible to draw some conclusions about Englandās approach to selection from this warm-up, though. Missing from their āfirst teamā was their first-choice spin bowler, Shoaib Bashir. Itās an understandable omission: spinners were marginalised in the last major test series hosted by Australia, accounting for only 17 of the 165 wickets taken by bowlers in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Even Nathan Lyon ā the hostsā own first-choice off-spinner ā had relatively little influence. At 37, Lyon has much more test experience than the 21-year-old Bashir. In fact, there isnāt a spin bowler in this era of test cricket with a more impressive track record than Lyonās. Heās bowled more overs than anyone else since the start of the World Test Championship in August 2019 ā and his wickets have cost 12 runs less than those of other spinners in the matches heās played, on average.
Lyon has been particularly useful in Australian conditions, which are generally challenging for spin bowlers. Over this period, visiting spinners have taken their wickets at an average cost of 55.3 runs; Lyonās have cost only 27.3. Really, his relegation to a minor role in last yearās series against India said more about the quality of Australiaās veteran pace attack than his own effectiveness in home tests. However, the bodies of those fast bowlers might finally be starting to creak.
Pat Cummins ā the teamās captain, who accounted for a quarter of Australiaās overs in last yearās BGT series by himself ā has already been ruled out of next weekās first test; Josh Hazlewood also had a recent injury scare. As a consequence, itās likely that Lyon will be asked to deliver more over the course of this five-match series than he did against India. One of Englandās major weaknesses is that they donāt have a spinner with such proven quality to match him.
š For the first time in his NHL career, Connor Bedard is showing glimpses of elite finishing skill
Maybe itās not too late. Back in February, I cast doubt on Connor Bedardās chances of making Canadaās roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics. After a strong start to the NHL season, however, he has forced his way into team managementās thinking.
Bedardās inability to generate shots in his first few games was just a blip; recently, heās also been finishing his scoring chances at an efficient rate. For the first time in his career, his shooting percentage is several percentage points higher than youād expect based on the location of his attempts, per Evolving Hockey. Will this trend stick? Despite his shot being lauded by scouts ā and opposing goalies ā heās been a roughly average finisher in aggregate across his first three seasons in the league.
Among recent top draft picks, how well a player finished their chances early in their NHL career is a pretty good predictor of shooting efficiency in future seasons. While Bedard (+3% so far) clearly hasnāt come out of the blocks like Steven Stamkos or Auston Matthews, the trajectory of players like Patrick Kane, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid should give fans of the Blackhawks hope. All three players began their careers at a similar level to Bedard, before developing into clearly plus finishers.
What else I learned last week
š Luka DonÄiÄ has improved his scoring ā without getting to the rim
Seven games into his second season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Luka DonÄiÄ has looked a different player. By Basketball Referenceās all-in-one impact metric ā Box Plus/Minus ā he has taken a big leap forward from 2024-25 on the offensive end.
Earlier in the year, I looked into the declining proportion of his shots that came near the basket; his improvement hasnāt been a result of taking more of those high-value attempts, though. (The share which have been taken within three feet of the rim is roughly in line with last year.) Rather, he has been excellent from the midrange: around 20% of his shot attempts have come from between 10 and 16 feet ā and heās converted 58% of them. Last year, those figures were 17% and 45% respectively.
ā½ļø Vicky LĆ³pez and BarƧaās other teenagers are playing more this season
One beneficiary of BarƧa FemenĆās reduced depth has been 19-year-old Spanish international Vicky LĆ³pez. Already in her fourth season with the clubās first team, she has played 67% of the available Liga F and Champions League minutes so far.
LĆ³pezās allocated minutes have steadily increased year by year. She featured 13% of the time in her first season, 36% in her second and 45% last season; she would likely have filled a more important role even if BarƧa hadnāt been facing a financial crunch. However, the clubās other teenage talents have also benefited from a smaller squad: players aged 19 or younger have accounted for just over 16% of all minutes across those two major competitions so far in 2025-26 ā up from a 6% share last season.
ā¾ļø Munetaka Murakamiās contact skills might not be good enough in MLB
Another member of Japanās title-winning World Baseball Classic squad is headed for North America. 25-year-old third baseman Munetaka Murakami ā who hit 56 home runs in a single NPB season in 2022 ā is now free to negotiate with MLB teams.
Murakami can certainly hit the ball hard: as David Adler noted at MLB.com earlier this week, only nine-left handed hitters in the Majors recorded an exit velocity on any batted ball faster than the 116.5 mph mark he reached this year. How often Murakami can make such good contact with the ball is the real question; he swung and missed alarmingly frequently at NPB level. The Fangraphs verdict was blunt: unless he is able to improve the mechanics of his swing, āhe basically canāt be a good MLB hitterā.
The next edition of My Week in Sport(s) will be published on Friday November 21st.
