Todd Murphy determined to reclaim spot as Lyon's Test successor

Australias Todd Murphy is ready to reclaim his spot in the Test side as Nathan Lyons potential successor Earlier Murphy has a bad phase struggling with injuries and bad formThe young offspinner who was once one of Australias most promising prospects endured a frustrating summer as shoulder issues hampered his performanceTodd Murphy established his rise during the 202324 domestic season where he played crucial roles alongside and as a replacement for Nathan Lyon during the India series and the tour to the United KingdomHe proved his worth by snapping the wickets of Virat Kohli Ben Stokes and Joe RootHowever his first full Sheffield Shield season brought mixed results yielding 17 wickets at an average of 38 The promising start was derailed by persistent right shoulder problems which prevented him from replicating his earlier successReflecting on his tough summer Todd Murphy admitted I reckon that was probably the biggest challengeI built it up like it was going to be quite an important summer for me and I really wanted to do well off the back of that his Test appearances Murphy was quoted as per cricketcomauAlso ReadSri Lankas Kamindu Mendis reveals mantra that helps him thrive in Test formatThen unfortunately it just didnt play out like that It was just challenging the whole way through and I never felt like I was at my best he addedHis inability to perform at his peak stemmed from a recurring shoulder niggleI had a shoulder niggle that was there the whole season and I probably I wasnt having the success I wanted to on the field so I was pushing hard at training as well to try and get back into form Murphy explained adding that the constant effort to regain form at training only exacerbated his injuryThat sort of meant that the shoulder was never getting a break and I was always just up against it going into games never feeling good and confident in my shoulder which was tough work he notedDespite the setback Murphy remains optimistic viewing the experience as a learning curveBut I think it was one of those experiences that you look back on and you take a bit out of I learnt a few things about myself and how Im going to approach games going forward he addedMurphys determination to secure his place as Lyons successor comes amid growing competition Fellow offspinner Corey Rocciccioli had an impressive Shield campaign with 47 wickets while legspinner Mitchell Swepson also made a strong case with 30 wickets Leftarm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann who shared the spin duties with Murphy and Lyon in India is also keen to reenter the Test scene following his move to TasmaniaEncouragingly for Murphy his shoulder issues involving bursae at the front and tendon damage at the back are now under control after a winter focused on strengthening the jointNational selectors had expressed satisfaction with his performance in England reinforcing Murphys belief in his potentialI think they were happy with what I was able to do in England he notedObviously its hard to live up to what Gaz Lyon has done for the last 10 or so years he saidI think at the back end of that it was just go back to Victoria and just keep showing us what you can do and just make sure that if anything happens to Gaz that youre still the next man that we pick he addedThat was the key messaging Murphy noted Todd Murphys takeaway from the Ashes was to play on his strengths regardless of how opposition batsmen approached himThe time when he claimed six wickets in Oval showcased his ability to learn quickly and adapt in pressure situations This capped off his initial burst of Test appearances with 21 wickets at an impressive average of 2542 including dismissing Kohli in all four Tests in IndiaAs Todd Murphy continues to work on his fitness and sharpen his skills he remains focused on securing his spot back in the Australian squad as the primary spin option after Nathan LyonWith ANI Inputs