Nathan Lyon has earned a lot of accolades as a top spinner, but nothing perhaps beats what Shane Warne has said about the 31-year-old.

Lyon, with 357 Test wickets, is now third on the list of Australia’s all-time Test wicket-takers. Warne, who tops the list among Australians, has 708. And the legend believes that Lyon can conceivably overhaul his tally.

Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan, with 800 wickets, is the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket.

“I think he (Lyon) has a chance,” Warne told cricket.com.au. “If you do the stats – if he plays another 85 or 90 Tests, and takes four wickets per game, that’s 360 wickets – so he’ll get me.

“As long as his hunger is there for the game, if he’s still enjoying the game. I’d love to watch someone get my record, that would be fantastic because it would mean they’ve done bloody well for Australia over a long period of time.”

Warne then added: “Hopefully, I’ll be still alive to see it – I’m 50 this year – because I’d love to present him with a bottle of wine and say well done.”

The reason Warne thinks Lyon can continue playing at the top level for a long time is because he considers off-spin bowling to be less stressful on the body. “Spin bowling is still always taxing on your body,” Warne said.

“Off-spin is probably — if there is an easier form of the game on your body — the less stressful. You still get tired, it still hurts, but compared to fast bowling, leg spin and all the other forms of bowling, it’s probably the easiest on your body. Which is even more of a testament to ‘Lyno’, because he’s really only got an off-break and a straight one.

“A lot of the other offies that we’ve seen — Harbhajan (Singh, India), Murali, Saqlain (Mushtaq, Pakistan) — these guys had doosras and all sorts of other deliveries.

“Nathan’s got the traditional old off-spinner, and a straight one. So he’s very clever, he thinks about the game well, and hopefully his body holds up, which it should.”

Expressing his admiration for the work that Lyon does, Warne further said: “I think Nathan is getting better and better. I think the job he does for the side in the first innings is very under-rated.

“I love watching him bowl, but I am biased towards the spinners. He’s done a great job for Australia, he’s been a great foil for the good quicks we’ve got and I think he’s done a terrific job.”

Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, has backed Lyon to bounce back from his costly mistake against England and urged the other Australia players to rally around the spin bowler.

With England needing just two runs, Lyon had a golden opportunity to run Jack Leach out at the non-striker’s end, but the off-spinner fluffed the chance and looked desolate after Australia’s defeat.

“He’ll feel terrible at the moment, he’ll feel like he’s let his team down but that happens in the game.

“He’s won so many games for Australia as well. He’s got 350-odd Test wickets, so he’s done lots right through his career. And we’ve all had moments like that.”