‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Tongue Revels in Five-Fer and Justifies England Batting Approach.

England may have been bowled out for 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 career high.

“Dreams come true,” he stated at the end of a hectic day where 20 wickets fell. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, if it’s home or away, and this is incredibly 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 leaning towards Australia, with a 46-run first-innings lead 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 star performer 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, winning the toss and electing to bowl first, I thought we did a superb job as a collective attack.”

“Credit to them, they bowled well too. It’s a surface offering significant movement. 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 line was certainly beneficial, it helped me, for sure, with my angle.”

Defending the Approach

There may be a sense of dissonance for English fans in hearing Tongue repeated the playbook chapter headings about putting pressure on their opponents, playing an attractive brand of cricket and so on, something England did here by scraping past 100 runs at 3.7 runs an over. “It’s how we play our cricket. We play a highly aggressive style of cricket. We try and force the issue 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 dismissed inside 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 obviously shift a gear or put them into pressure.

“I think, identifying scoring areas is vitally important on this sort of wicket when the ball is doing a bit more. But yeah, I thought Brookie batted really 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 most recent instance in a run of consistent performances against the Australian captain, 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 huge thrill. But yeah, to me, it’s just another batsman 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 obviously a nice 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 long-time observer of the MCG surface.

“We know it can deteriorate quickly on day one and day two, then when the wicket hardens up and dries out it can be nice to bat on. So I don’t want to have the preconceptions tomorrow that the pitch is going to do a lot. It could be a different story 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 excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.