🔗 Share this article ‘The Surface is Providing Assistance’: Josh Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Justifies England Aggressive Mindset. England may have been bowled out for 110 in Melbourne, another chapter in a difficult tour on this Ashes campaign, but for the young seamer day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a career high. “It’s a dream come true,” Tongue said at the end of a hectic day where 20 wickets fell. “Playing in the Ashes has always been the goal, if it’s home or away, 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, 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 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 this historic 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 surface offering significant movement. But we’ve got to just regroup tomorrow and do the same again.” “I feel like if you put the ball in the right areas, which I felt like we did today as a group, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller line definitely helped, it helped me, definitely, with my natural angle.” Defending the Approach 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 just about crawling past three figures 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 specific plan 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 put pressure back on to the opposition, so whoever walks out thinks it’s the appropriate moment to obviously shift a gear or put them into pressure. “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 obviously crucial in a low first-innings score.” Claiming a Prized Scalp Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage 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 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 obviously a nice feeling.” A View from the Other End There was a more cautious assessment at close of play from Michael Neser, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a career-long student of the MCG surface. “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 all wickets intact and their aggressive left-hander at the crease, alongside surely one of the most popular nightwatchmen in Test history, the homegrown talent Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the green-tinged wicket did too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.
England may have been bowled out for 110 in Melbourne, another chapter in a difficult tour on this Ashes campaign, but for the young seamer day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a career high. “It’s a dream come true,” Tongue said at the end of a hectic day where 20 wickets fell. “Playing in the Ashes has always been the goal, if it’s home or away, 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, 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 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 this historic 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 surface offering significant movement. But we’ve got to just regroup tomorrow and do the same again.” “I feel like if you put the ball in the right areas, which I felt like we did today as a group, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller line definitely helped, it helped me, definitely, with my natural angle.” Defending the Approach 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 just about crawling past three figures 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 specific plan 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 put pressure back on to the opposition, so whoever walks out thinks it’s the appropriate moment to obviously shift a gear or put them into pressure. “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 obviously crucial in a low first-innings score.” Claiming a Prized Scalp Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage 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 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 obviously a nice feeling.” A View from the Other End There was a more cautious assessment at close of play from Michael Neser, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a career-long student of the MCG surface. “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 all wickets intact and their aggressive left-hander at the crease, alongside surely one of the most popular nightwatchmen in Test history, the homegrown talent Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the green-tinged wicket did too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.