‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Justifies England’s Batting Approach.
Despite being dismissed for a modest 110 in the MCG, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain on this Ashes campaign, but for Josh Tongue day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a personal milestone.
“Dreams come true,” he stated at the end of a action-packed day where a remarkable 20 wickets tumbled. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, if it’s home or away, and this obviously feels very special. To be here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with all my family in as well is the icing on the cake.”
The state of the game is already stacked in Australia’s favour, with a 46-run first-innings lead and set to bat again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that could potentially ease on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the standout bowler with a career best five for 45 as England dismissed Australia for 152.
“It’s been an amazing day of Test match cricket on this historic day. Arriving at the venue this morning, securing the toss and electing to bowl first, I thought we did a superb job as a bowling unit.”
“And obviously they’ve bowled well as well. It’s a surface offering significant movement. But we’ve got to just regroup tomorrow and do the same again.”
“I feel like if you put the ball in the right areas, which I felt like we did today as a group, you’re going to get your rewards. It feels like that fuller line definitely helped, it helped me, for sure, with my angle.”
Defending the Approach
There may be something jarring for English fans in hearing Tongue echo the familiar mantras about applying scoreboard pressure, playing an positive style of cricket and so on, something England did here by scraping past 100 runs at a rate of 3.7 per over. “That’s our brand of cricket. We play a very positive brand of cricket. We try and force the issue and seize the initiative.”
Tongue said there was no real direction on how England would bat on this surface, perhaps inadvisably given they were bowled out in less than 30 overs. “There wasn’t really a big chat at all. I feel like we want to put pressure back on to the opposition, so whoever walks out thinks it’s the right time to accelerate or put them into pressure.
“I think, identifying scoring areas is obviously crucial on this sort of wicket when the ball is doing a bit more. But yeah, I thought Harry Brook batted exceptionally well. The runs that he got were absolutely vital in obviously a small first innings total.”
Dismissing a Legend
Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of consistent performances against Steve Smith, but he laughed off suggestions he might “have the wood” over him.
“No, he’s obviously an amazing player. I watched him as a kid, and obviously getting him out is a very special feeling. But yeah, to me, it’s just another batter that I want to try and get out. His reputation doesn't matter. My primary objective is to get the batter out at the other end. So yeah, it’s obviously a nice feeling.”
A View from the Other End
There was a more ominous take at stumps from an Australian bowler, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a career-long student of the MCG surface.
“We know it can move real fast on day one and day two, then when the wicket hardens up and dries out it can be good for batting. So I don’t want to have the preconceptions tomorrow that the pitch is going to offer as much. It could be a different story in the second innings.”
Australia will begin day two with 10 wickets in hand and their aggressive left-hander at the crease, alongside surely one of the most popular nightwatchmen in Test history, the homegrown talent Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the green-tinged wicket did excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a brief reply. “I’m a bowler, so no”.
