‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Justifies England’s Batting Approach.
England may have been bowled out for 110 in the MCG, another chapter in a difficult tour on the current Ashes tour, 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 action-packed day where a remarkable 20 wickets tumbled. “Playing in the Ashes has always been the goal, if it’s home or away, and this obviously feels very special. Being here at the MCG with all my family in as well is the icing on the cake.”
The match situation is already leaning towards Australia, 46 runs ahead on first innings and batting again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that could potentially ease on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the star performer with a personal best figures of 5/45 as England dismissed Australia for 152.
“It was a fantastic day of Test 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 bowl in good areas, which I felt like we did today as a group, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller length was certainly beneficial, it helped me, for sure, with my angle.”
Justifying the Strategy
There may be a sense of dissonance 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 a rate of 3.7 per 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 specific plan 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 immediately put the bowlers under pressure, so the next batter in thinks it’s the appropriate moment to accelerate or put them on the back foot.
“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 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 the Australian captain, but he laughed off suggestions he might “hold an advantage” over him.
“No, he’s obviously an amazing player. 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. 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.”
The Bowler’s Perspective
There was a more ominous take at stumps from Michael Neser, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a long-time observer of the Melbourne pitch.
“We know it can deteriorate quickly 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 assume 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 all wickets intact and Travis Head at the crease, alongside surely one of the most popular nightwatchmen in Test history, the local boy Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the green-tinged wicket did too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.
