Steve O'Keefe will have a golden chance to establish himself as Australia's second-choice Test spinner on the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.
National selectors will on Tuesday name a 15-man squad for the three-Test series, which starts in Kandy on July 26.
It's understood O'Keefe will be part of the touring party, having won the race to be Lyon's spin sidekick.
O'Keefe played alongside Lyon at the SCG earlier this year, bowling 26.1 overs in Australia's rain-marred Test draw against West Indies.
The left-arm tweaker's only other Test came in 2014, when he debuted in a miserable 2-0 series loss to Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Australia are expected to include two spinners in their Test XI at Kandy, Galle and Colombo - where they will face a side that was recently humbled by an innings and 88 runs against England in Leeds.
It looms as O'Keefe's greatest chance yet to deliver on the promise he has showed at NSW over the past 10 years.
"I dare say there'll be a second spinner in the squad, with the likelihood of wickets that are going to probably spin and reverse swing," Smith said in Brisbane on Monday.
Allrounder Mitch Marsh is likely to maintain his place in the side, which would make it incredibly hard for Glenn Maxwell to be squeezed into the same XI.
Legspinner Adam Zampa's stocks have skyrocketed this year after he impressed at the World Twenty20 and Indian Premier League.
But Zampa's Sheffield Shield form hasn't been as sensational, something both the 24-year-old and coach Darren Lehmann noted in March.
"His four-day record has got to improve, he's the first to admit that," Lehmann said during the World T20.
Ashton Agar, who so memorably dazzled with the bat on Test debut in the 2013 Ashes, is also on the radar of selectors.
But Agar is seemingly behind O'Keefe in the spin pecking order, having been picked for an Australia A series in August.
There are unlikely to be many surprises in the squad.
The top six of David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Smith, Adam Voges and Marsh is seemingly set after a run-laden summer ended with Australia grabbing the No.1 Test ranking.
"The batters probably pick themselves, they've been pretty consistent over the last little while and scoring some big runs," Smith said.
Mitchell Starc will return to spearhead the Test attack, having been on the sidelines for six months since the inaugural day-night Test because of ankle surgery.
Jackson Bird, who impressed in the Test side's last-start win at Christchurch, is set be retained in the squad.
