Ahmed 'no threat' to Lyon Michael Clarke checks in at Sydney International Airport on Sunday. Michael Clarke is adamant Nathan Lyon need not be looking over his shoulder in England despite the looming presence of Pakistani-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed on the Australian team set-up. Lyon was the only spinner named in the 16-man squad for the five-match Ashes series starting on July 10, but there is increasing speculation that Ahmed will be drafted into the side at the expense of the newly signed NSW off-spinner. The 31-year-old former refugee would need minor changes to citizenship legislation to be rushed through Federal Parliament in the next few weeks. Cricket Australia officials, though, are privately confident if the amendment to the Citizenship Act passes without drama he could apply for a passport and be in England as soon as June 21, when the Australia A touring party begins the last of its three matches against Gloucestershire. The squads for the Ashes lead-in events - the ICC Champions Trophy and the A tour - flew out of various Australian ports at the weekend, including Clarke, who tried to hose down the mounting anticipation that Ahmed will join the visitors in England next month. National selector John Inverarity left open the possibility that the adopted Victorian could be added to the initial 16-strong squad, announced in April. However, Clarke denied he would automatically leapfrog Lyon, who was dropped and then recalled on the dismal Test tour of India. "The speculation aren't the selectors," Clarke said on Sunday. I think Nathan is well and truly aware of that. He knows where he sits in the team. He's very excited about getting over to England and having some success. There is a lot of water under the bridge before we have to worry about the first Test. I think if you listened to what John Inverarity said, he said 'We've picked 16 and there are opportunities for other guys'. That could be one player, that could be five players. Clarke faces an enormously significant six months in Anglo-Australian cricket relations, with 10 Tests to be played. He is eager for success but hopes the period does not define his Test leadership. "I hope my career has been bigger than 12 months," he said. I've been captain now for nearly two years. It's an exciting time for me as a player, being 32 years of age and having played for so long. If we can have success in this one-day tournament and drag that confidence and momentum into the first Test I think that'd be very handy.