Lyon welcomes possible inclusion of O'Keefe

Nathan Lyon is eagerly anticipating the prospect of he and fellow NSW spinner Steve O’Keefe forming a dangerous spin partnership during Australia’s two-Test tour of Bangladesh next month.

The Australians fly out on Monday, with Lyon set to play his first Test in Asia since last year’s forgettable series in the United Arab Emirates, in which he was soundly dealt with by a quality Pakistan batting line-up.

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O'Keefe and Lyon had a tough time of it in the UAE in 2014 // Getty Images

O’Keefe debuted in the opening contest of that two-Test series, finishing with match figures of 4-219, but the left-armer recently shone for Australia A against a strong India A side across two four-day matches, taking 14 wickets at 20.

WATCH: O'Keefe rips through India A

Lyon has also enjoyed a productive 12 months since the harsh lessons of that Pakistan series, taking a career-best 12-wicket haul against India in Adelaide last summer before becoming Australia’s most successful Test off-spinner in the Caribbean this year.

WATCH: Lyon's amazing Adelaide afternoon

“‘SOK’ and I bowl well together so hopefully we can bowl in tandem and spin Australia to a couple of victories,” Lyon told News Corp.

“Losing Pat (Cummins) is a big loss, especially with the pace that he’s able to bowl at.

“It’s going to be a big role for Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Andrew Fekete, Steve O’Keefe and myself to do the majority of the bowling.”

O’Keefe too says the experiences of bowling in the UAE, and observing the Pakistani spinners in action, has benefited his bowling.

"Looking back on time I had in the UAE ... their spinners bowled generally a lot flatter, tried to lock the batters on the crease and bowl with that rounder seam," he told cricket.com.au. "So it's hard as a batter to predict if the ball's going to slide on or if it's going to turn. 

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"The game changes as well; as the ball gets softer it tends to spin more with the odd one sliding, and if the ball’s newer it tends to slide a bit more with the odd one spinning.

"I took a lot away from that; (Pakistan left-armer Zulfiqar) Babar had a lot of success against our batters and there had to be a reason why.

"To come up short (in the UAE) was disappointing, however if ... you try to grow from it and learn from it and keep looking forward then hopefully, as I do, you'll look back on it as a positive experience.

"When you play for Australia you’ve got to be winning games of cricket. That's what the public deserves and that's what the team deserves.

"We should be able to be good enough in any conditions. We were well off the mark there, however I've had 12 months to go back and reflect and think about my game and I certainly feel like I'm in a better position now than I was 12 months ago."

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Lyon, now a veteran of 46 Tests and second behind only Peter Siddle in terms of experience in this Australia touring party, also expressed his desire to take on a leadership role within the group.

“It’s important for myself to start leading from the front on the training field and away from cricket as well,” he said.

“I’ll hopefully have a mentor-type role and try and help Steve (Smith) and Adam Voges as much out on this tour, but even going forward just to help anyone who needs it.

“It’s exciting and I’m looking forward to that part. It’s a new step in my career as well.”

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Australia coach Darren Lehmann indicated that the possibility of playing two spinners in the two Tests was indeed a likely one.

“We’ve got a good group – we can change our side depending on the wicket, which is pretty important when you’re away,” he said recently.

“We did the same in the West Indies and it ended up that Fawad (Ahmed) didn’t play, we went with three quicks.

“But I think conditions will be more conducive to spin over there (in Bangladesh).”