{"id":360344,"date":"2025-12-20T11:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T11:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/360344\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T11:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T11:41:09","slug":"alex-carey-reveals-why-nathan-lyon-is-being-called-phil-during-third-ashes-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/360344\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Carey reveals why Nathan Lyon is being called \u2018Phil\u2019 during third Ashes Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018The GOAT\u2019 and \u2018Gaz\u2019 are Nathan Lyon\u2019s most common nicknames, but a new moniker emerged during Day 4 of the third Ashes<\/a> Test.<\/p>\n

Fans were quick notice members of the Aussie team call out \u201cPhil\u201d when Lyon produced a devastating spell in the final session.<\/p>\n

He took three wickets, including the crucial scalps of Zak Crawley (85) and Ben Stokes (five) in quick succession.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

But why is he now being referred to as Phil? Well it might actually be \u2018Fil\u2019 as Alex Carey explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he might have used the work last week, didn\u2019t he?\u201d Carey said with a smile.<\/p>\n

Of course, Carey is referring to Lyon\u2019s extraordinary interview with Channel 7<\/a> during the second Test in Brisbane when he was surprisingly left out.<\/p>\n

Lyon said he was \u201cfilthy\u201d with the decision and that quote was quickly spread everywhere.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s a shortened version of \u2018filthy\u2019? Yep that\u2019s the origin of the new name.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you say something in this cricket team then you don\u2019t get missed,\u201d Carey added.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, he\u2019s very much-loved around the group and takes it with a big smile on his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s bowling beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NathanNathan Lyon has spun Australia closer to another Test win over England, and retention of the Ashes. Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

Australia are just four wickets away from retaining the Ashes after Lyon and skipper Pat Cummins tore apart England\u2019s last-ditch resistance.<\/p>\n

Needing to pull off a world-record fourth-innings chase of 435 to stay in the series, England went to stumps on day four at 6-207 and still requiring 228 runs to win.<\/p>\n

At one stage it looked as if the game could be over on Saturday evening, before Jamie Smith (11 not out) and Will Jacks (2no) did enough to push it to a fifth day.<\/p>\n

Lyon (3-62) sparked a late-evening collapse of 3-17.<\/p>\n

He first bowled a reverse-sweeping Harry Brook for 30, ending a 68-run fourth-wicket stand with Zak Crawley that had appeared England\u2019s last resistance.<\/p>\n

Brook had successfully employed the tactic of reversing both Lyon and Travis Head, but this one held up a bit off the pitch and turned a long way.<\/p>\n

The right-hander then spent an age standing at the crease before walking off, with the reality of England\u2019s plight perhaps sinking in.<\/p>\n

Stokes followed for five, when a big ripping ball pitched on leg and took the top of the left-hander\u2019s off stump.<\/p>\n

And when Lyon drew Crawley forward in flight and Alex Carey stumped him for 85 after one of England\u2019s best innings of the tour, even the most one-eyed fan must have stopped believing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe bowled really well,\u201d Carey said of Lyon.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlenty of energy, got rewarded late. It felt like he worked through a lot of plans, a lot of fields and hung in there and took those three wickets.\u201d<\/p>\n

After England took 6-76 on Saturday morning to have Australia out for 349, the tourists offered some signs of a spirited fightback but needed nothing short of a miracle.<\/p>\n

Requiring a world-record chase in order to stay in the series, England lost Ben Duckett in the second over when Cummins (3-24) had him prodding a ball to slip.<\/p>\n

The opener\u2019s dismissal summed up a horror tour for the left-hander, who is yet to pass 30 and has quickly been exposed by his refusal to leave the ball.<\/p>\n

Ollie Pope is having a worse tour, with his misery compounded by a superb one-handed grab by Labuschagne at slip after an edge off Cummins.<\/p>\n

And while Joe Root led a brief fightback alongside Zak Crawley, Cummins eventually had his number for a 13th time in Test cricket after tea.<\/p>\n

Playing his first Test since July, and after taking 3-69 in the first innings on return from back pain, Cummins moved the ball just enough to have him caught behind.<\/p>\n

Some rain is forecast for parts of Sunday, but even if that was to ruin Day 5 a draw would be enough for Australia to retain the urn.<\/p>\n

– With AAP<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cricket world in awe of all-time screamer: \u2018Outrageous\u2019<\/p>\n

1 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Travis Head coy on staying at top of order long-term<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u2018The GOAT\u2019 and \u2018Gaz\u2019 are Nathan Lyon\u2019s most common nicknames, but a new moniker emerged during Day 4…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,1625,3863,588,85,33383],"class_list":["post-360344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-lifestyle","tag-sponsored-content","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-the-ashes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}