‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Defends England Aggressive Mindset.
England may have been bowled out for 110 in the MCG, yet another challenging episode on the current Ashes tour, 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 hectic day where a remarkable 20 wickets tumbled. “Playing in the Ashes has always been the goal, if it’s home or away, and this is incredibly special. Being here at the MCG with all my family in as well is the icing on the cake.”
The state of the game is already leaning towards Australia, with a 46-run first-innings lead and batting again on an notoriously lively surface that may now settle on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the star performer with a career best five for 45 as England dismissed Australia for 152.
“It’s been an amazing day of Test match cricket on Boxing Day. Arriving at the venue this morning, winning 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 pitch which is doing quite a bit. But we’ve got to just regroup tomorrow and repeat the performance.”
“I feel like if you put the ball in the right areas, which I felt like we did today as a bowling unit, you’re going to get your rewards. It feels like that fuller length was certainly beneficial, it helped me, for sure, with my natural angle.”
Justifying the Strategy
There may be something jarring for English fans in hearing Tongue echo the familiar mantras about applying scoreboard pressure, playing an attractive brand of cricket and so on, something England did here by scraping past 100 runs at 3.7 runs an over. “That’s our brand of cricket. We play a highly aggressive style 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, arguably unwisely 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 immediately put the bowlers under pressure, so the next batter in thinks it’s the right time to accelerate or put them into pressure.
“I think, knowing where you’re scoring options are is vitally important on this sort of wicket when the ball is moving around. But yeah, I thought Harry Brook batted really 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 dismissed suggestions he might “hold an advantage” over him.
“No, he’s clearly a world-class batter. 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. It doesn’t really matter who he is. My main goal is to get the batter out at the other end. So yeah, it’s a great feeling.”
The Bowler’s Perspective
There was a more ominous take at close of play from an Australian bowler, a key wicket taker in England’s reply and a career-long student of the MCG surface.
“We know it can deteriorate quickly on day one and day two, then when the wicket compacts and loses moisture it can be good for batting. So I don’t want to have the preconceptions tomorrow that the pitch is going to do a lot. It could be a different proposition second innings.”
Australia will resume on day two with 10 wickets in hand and their aggressive left-hander at the crease, alongside surely one of the best-supported nightwatchmen in Test history, the homegrown talent Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the green-tinged wicket did too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.