Lyon targeting milestone only reached by two Aussies

Test spinner Nathan Lyon has given a strong indication that he intends to play on for the foreseeable future, indicating he's eyeing off the 500 Test wicket milestone.

Lyon, who turns 33 today, is likely to become the 13th Australian to play 100 Test matches later this summer, and currently sits on 390 Test wickets. Only Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563) have taken more wickets for Australia.

The off-spinner is unchallenged as Australia's leading spinner, with former captain Mark Taylor admitting recently that the obvious lack of a long-term successor to Lyon was a concern. Leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson has been picked in Australia's squad to face India, but is yet to play a Test match, although 18 wickets in his last two Sheffield Shield matches is a sign he's taken a big leap forward.

But fears of a spin-bowling vacuum should Lyon decide to give the game away have been eased, with the 96-Test veteran hinting that he's keen to keep playing.

"I still feel I'm getting better and still feel like I've got a lot of cricket to offer Cricket Australia," he told News Corp.

"Definitely 500 (wickets) and beyond is on my radar."

Swepson is 27, an age where spinners traditionally come into their own, and Lyon has urged patience with the leg-spinner, as well as the other young spinners around the country, including 20-year-old Lloyd Pope.

"I think it's a craft we can't afford to rush certain individuals. It's a craft you learn and you keep learning and you get better with age," he said.

Australian hasn't played a Test since January, with COVID-19 forcing the abandonment of the tour to Bangladesh in the winter.

Such a long-layoff is almost unheard of in the modern era, and comes after a jam-packed 2019 that included both the World Cup and the Ashes outside of the Australian summer.

But Lyon has welcomed the enforced break from cricket.

"Probably it's driven my love for the game," Lyon said.

"Without being able to play the game that you love so much and not being able to play that regularly that's driven my passion to get out there and that hunger to perform well again.

"The most I've missed is that pressure that comes along with playing Test cricket. Missing that adrenaline."