‘The Surface is Providing Assistance’: Josh Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Justifies England’s Aggressive Mindset.
After collapsing to a total of 110 in the MCG, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain on the current Ashes tour, 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 action-packed day where 20 wickets fell. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, whether at home or abroad, 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 match situation is already stacked in Australia’s favour, 46 runs ahead on first innings and batting again on an notoriously lively surface that could potentially ease on day two. But this was also Tongue’s day, 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 this historic day. Obviously coming to the ground here this morning, winning the toss and putting the Aussies in to bat, I thought we did a superb 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 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 reap the benefits. 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 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 take it back to them.”
Tongue said there was no real direction on how England would bat on this surface, arguably unwisely 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 whoever walks out thinks it’s the right time to accelerate or put them on the back foot.
“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 Harry Brook batted really well. The runs that he got were obviously crucial in a low first-innings score.”
Claiming a Prized Scalp
Tongue’s spell also contained the most recent instance in a run of cross-format success against Steve Smith, but he laughed off suggestions he might “have the wood” 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 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 a great feeling.”
A View from the Other End
There was a more ominous take at stumps from Michael Neser, 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 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 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 grassy pitch did excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a brief reply. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.
