‘The Surface is Providing Assistance’: Josh Tongue Revels in Five-Fer and Defends England’s Batting Approach.
Despite being dismissed for a modest 110 in Melbourne, 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.
“Dreams come true,” Tongue said at the end of a action-packed day where a remarkable 20 wickets tumbled. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, whether at home or abroad, and this is incredibly special. Being here at the MCG 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 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 putting the Aussies in to bat, I thought we did an amazing job as a bowling unit.”
“Credit to them, they bowled well too. It’s a surface offering significant movement. But we’ve got to just regroup tomorrow and do the same again.”
“I feel like if you bowl in good 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 just about crawling past three figures 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 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. “There wasn’t really a big chat at all. I feel like we want to immediately put the bowlers under pressure, so whoever walks out thinks it’s the right time to obviously shift a gear or put them on the back foot.
“I think, identifying scoring areas is vitally important on this sort of wicket when the ball is moving around. But yeah, I thought Brookie batted really well. The runs that he got were obviously crucial in obviously a small first innings total.”
Claiming a Prized Scalp
Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of consistent performances against Steve Smith, but he dismissed suggestions he might “have the wood” over him.
“No, he’s obviously an amazing player. 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.”
A View from the Other End
There was a more cautious assessment at close of play from Michael Neser, a key 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 hardens up and dries out 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 story in the second innings.”
Australia will resume on day two with 10 wickets in hand and Travis Head at the crease, alongside surely one of the most popular nightwatchmen in Test history, the homegrown talent 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”.
