Milestone looms in Ashes if England can't tame Lyon

It is the holy grail for Australian bowlers and Nathan Lyon is now within striking range of joining the exclusive 300 club by the end of this Ashes series.

The Australian off-spinner's brilliant form in the first two Tests has been a key factor in Steve Smith's side surging to a 2-0 lead heading into next week's third match of the series at the WACA.

England's batsmen, in particular their vulnerable array of left-handers, are scratching around for answers as to how to score and survive against him.

After a prolific year in the subcontinent, his 11 wickets in Brisbane and Adelaide have made the 30-year-old the leading wicket-taker in the world in 2017 and there is another prize looming.

Lyon heads to Perth seventh on the all-time Australian list with 280 Test wickets and with a real chance to add an additional 20 by the conclusion of the fifth Sydney in Sydney in January, particularly if the pitch is to his liking at the SCG.

That would place him alongside Shane Warne (708), Glenn McGrath (563), Dennis Lillee (355), Mitchell Johnson (313) and Brett Lee (310) as the only Australians to have collected 300.

The scary thing is that as a spinner he could conceivably continue playing international cricket for six or seven years.

Lyon has claimed 38 wickets in his past five Tests, three of them in subcontinent conditions in India and Bangladesh, at an average of 17.8. His career average has plummeted from 34 to 31 during this purple patch.

Astoundingly, in Australian conditions and in a bowling line-up featuring Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins - three of the best pacemen in the world - he has been the centrepiece of Steve Smith's attack, the man England's batsmen most fear.

"Gazza is bowling the house down at the moment," Starc said on Thursday.

"I think that allows the other three of us to do what we do from one end if need be. Josh does what he does and it allows Pat and I to bowl as fast as we can."

Australia's well-rounded bowling department has fully justified the decision by national selectors not to include an all-rounder in the squad until now, with Mitch Marsh to join the camp in Perth. He could potentially make a return to the Test XI in place of a struggling Peter Handscomb.

Thanks to the complementary roles played by the Australian quartet in repeatedly dismantling England, they haven't needed a fourth seamer.

Lyon has been almost impossible for England's batsmen to get away, rocking them with over-spin and turn, Cummins has bowled with great control as well as pace, Starc has made in-roads with the new ball and taken down the tail and Hazlewood rose to the challenge on the last day in Adelaide, bowling faster than he ever had to be Australia's man of the hour.

There is more bad news for England.

"The exciting thing is I think our bowling group can still get better," Starc warned.

"I think we've obviously managed to take 40 wickets in the last couple of weeks and do a lot of good things, but I think there is still room for improvement.

"I think the fact that we've all sort of grown up together - well, Patty, Josh and I - we've been around each other for a long time. We spend so much time off the field as a group as well. We're really close mates. I think that shows in the way we play our cricket. We're gelling really nicely and we complement each other really well.

"Hopefully we see a nice fast, bouncy wicket ... a WACA of old, and get stuck into their batters again as a bowling group."