Test captain Pat Cummins has all but declared Nathan Lyon will play all five Ashes Tests this summer, insisting he can’t envision a scenario under which Australia would omit the spinner and field four fast bowlers.

Lyon was dropped for Australia’s last Test in the West Indies – a pink-ball match the tourists won inside three days when Mitchell Starc took 6-9 and Scott Boland claimed a hat-trick to bowl the hosts out for 27 in Kingston.

Lyon was bitterly disappointed to miss that match, but understood the reasoning.

Earlier this week, former Australian one-day quick Kane Richardson raised eyebrows on a Cricket Australia podcast when he suggested bowler-friendly decks could greet teams this summer.

“I’m hearing word out of the Aussie camp that they’re going to want spicy wickets for th

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