‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Josh Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Defends England’s Batting Approach.
After collapsing to a total of 110 in the MCG, yet another challenging episode on this Ashes campaign, but for the young seamer day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a personal milestone.
“It’s a dream come true,” Tongue said at the end of a hectic day where a remarkable 20 wickets tumbled. “Playing in the Ashes has always been the goal, whether at home or abroad, and this obviously feels very special. Being here at the MCG with all my family in as well makes it even better.”
The match situation is already leaning towards Australia, 46 runs ahead on first innings and set to bat again on an notoriously lively surface that may now settle on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the standout bowler with a personal best figures of 5/45 as England rolled Australia out for 152.
“It was a fantastic day of Test cricket on Boxing Day. Obviously coming to the ground here this morning, securing the toss and electing to bowl first, I thought we did an amazing job as a collective attack.”
“And obviously they’ve bowled well as well. It’s a surface offering significant movement. But we’ve got to just come back 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 group, you’re going to get your rewards. It feels like that fuller line was certainly beneficial, it helped me, definitely, with my natural angle.”
Defending the Approach
There may be a sense of dissonance for English fans in hearing Tongue repeated the playbook chapter headings about applying scoreboard pressure, playing an attractive brand 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 put pressure on the opposition and take it back to them.”
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. “We didn’t have an extensive discussion. I feel like we want to immediately put the bowlers under pressure, so the next batter in thinks it’s the appropriate moment 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 doing a bit more. But yeah, I thought Brookie batted exceptionally well. The runs that he got were obviously crucial 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 clearly a world-class batter. I’ve grown up watching him, 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 cautious assessment at close of play from an Australian bowler, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a career-long student of the Melbourne pitch.
“We know it can move real fast on day one and day two, then when the wicket compacts and loses moisture it can be nice to bat on. So I don’t want to assume tomorrow that the pitch is going to offer as much. It could be a different proposition 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 best-supported nightwatchmen in Test history, the homegrown talent Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the grassy pitch did too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.
