🔗 Share this article ‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Josh Tongue Revels in Five-Fer and Justifies England Batting Approach. England may have been bowled out for 110 in Melbourne, 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 personal milestone. “Dreams come true,” he stated 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 leaning towards Australia, with a 46-run first-innings lead and batting again on an notoriously lively surface that could potentially ease on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the standout bowler with a career best five for 45 as England rolled Australia out 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 electing to bowl first, I thought we did a superb 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 repeat the performance.” “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 angle.” Justifying the Strategy There may be something jarring 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 very positive brand of cricket. We try and force the issue and seize the initiative.” 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 whoever walks out thinks it’s the appropriate moment to obviously shift a gear or put them on the back foot. “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 Harry Brook 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 most recent instance in a run of cross-format success against the Australian captain, but he dismissed suggestions he might “have the wood” over him. “No, he’s clearly a world-class batter. I watched him as a kid, and dismissing him is a huge thrill. 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 obviously a nice feeling.” A View from the Other End There was a more cautious assessment at close of play from an Australian bowler, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a long-time observer 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 have the preconceptions 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 10 wickets in hand and their aggressive left-hander 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 brief reply. “I’m a bowler, so no”.
England may have been bowled out for 110 in Melbourne, 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 personal milestone. “Dreams come true,” he stated 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 leaning towards Australia, with a 46-run first-innings lead and batting again on an notoriously lively surface that could potentially ease on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the standout bowler with a career best five for 45 as England rolled Australia out 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 electing to bowl first, I thought we did a superb 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 repeat the performance.” “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 angle.” Justifying the Strategy There may be something jarring 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 very positive brand of cricket. We try and force the issue and seize the initiative.” 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 whoever walks out thinks it’s the appropriate moment to obviously shift a gear or put them on the back foot. “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 Harry Brook 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 most recent instance in a run of cross-format success against the Australian captain, but he dismissed suggestions he might “have the wood” over him. “No, he’s clearly a world-class batter. I watched him as a kid, and dismissing him is a huge thrill. 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 obviously a nice feeling.” A View from the Other End There was a more cautious assessment at close of play from an Australian bowler, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a long-time observer 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 have the preconceptions 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 10 wickets in hand and their aggressive left-hander 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 brief reply. “I’m a bowler, so no”.