Australia spinner Nathan Lyon to release a semi-autobiographical book series for children

Australian spinner Nathan Lyon is all set to introduce a semi-autobiographical book series for children based on his life story. The veteran bowler revealed that the objective of launching the series is to enlighten children about his struggles and the challenges life can throw at someone.

The book series, titled 'Nice Garry', will come out in two volumes - 'Bowled Over' and 'In a Spin'. Published by Harper Collins, it will be available for sale from Wednesday (October 5), with further editions expected to be released next year.

When asked whether Lyon wants to inculcate children's interest in reading or cricket, the 34-year-old told cricket.com.au:

"Probably a bit of both."

He revealed meeting with children's author Michael Wagner and described how he wants to impact children's lives with it.

"I sat down with Michael Wagner and basically described my childhood, so the storylines are pretty similar to what it was like for me growing up in the country. Stuff like not having everything at your fingertips, and understanding that you're going to come across a few different challenges in life."

"It’s also about learning from those failures and experiences, and being able to carry on. And if you're part of a small country community, you can quickly learn that everyone has a talent so it's just about unearthing whatever that talent is and getting the most out of it."

It's worth noting that Lyon is not the first cricketer to launch a comic series. Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar unveiled a comic series based on him 'Sunny the Super Sleuth'. David Warner had one called 'The Kaboom Kid', with an 11-year-old Davey Warner as the central character.

"There's a couple of really nice messages in there about sibling rivalry" - Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon in action during Marsh one-day Cup. (Image Credits: Getty)

Lyon further claimed that with social media booming by the day, he wants kids to read physical books and is excited by the prospect of his own children reading the book. He added:

"With Harper and Milla growing up, and being at the age where they're quite influenced by social media or the power of their iPads, TikTok and all of that stuff, I thought it was a good opportunity to put across a couple of really important messages. But also to get them reading books, like we did when we were kids."

"There's a couple of really nice messages in there about sibling rivalry, and how it's okay to fail but also understanding what that looks like. I'm really excited by the books going out, and seeing the girls' faces the other day when I showed them the books for the very first time. They were pretty well blown away by that."

The New South Wales bowler is Australia's most successful off-spinner in Tests. He has picked up 438 wickets in 110 Tests at 32.07.