🔗 Share this article ‘The Wicket is Offering Plenty’: Josh Tongue Revels in Five-Fer and Defends England Batting Approach. England may have been bowled out for 110 in the MCG, yet another challenging episode on the current Ashes tour, but for the young seamer day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a career high. “Dreams come true,” Tongue said 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 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 set to bat again on an notoriously lively surface that could potentially ease on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the star performer with a career best five for 45 as England dismissed Australia for 152. “It was a fantastic day of Test cricket on this historic day. Obviously coming to the ground here this morning, securing 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 pitch which is doing quite a bit. But we’ve got to just come back 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 bowling unit, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller line definitely helped, it helped me, for sure, with my natural angle.” Defending the Approach There may be a sense of dissonance 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 just about crawling past three figures 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 take it back to them.” Tongue said there was no specific plan 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 appropriate moment to accelerate or put them into pressure. “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 exceptionally well. The runs that he got were obviously crucial in obviously a small first innings total.” Dismissing a Legend Tongue’s spell also contained the most recent instance in a run of consistent performances against Steve Smith, but he laughed off suggestions he might “hold an advantage” over him. “No, he’s clearly a world-class batter. 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. His reputation doesn't matter. 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 stumps 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 compacts and loses moisture it can be nice to bat on. So I don’t want to assume tomorrow that the pitch is going to do a lot. It could be a different proposition second innings.” Australia will begin 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 green-tinged wicket did too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.
England may have been bowled out for 110 in the MCG, yet another challenging episode on the current Ashes tour, but for the young seamer day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a career high. “Dreams come true,” Tongue said 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 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 set to bat again on an notoriously lively surface that could potentially ease on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the star performer with a career best five for 45 as England dismissed Australia for 152. “It was a fantastic day of Test cricket on this historic day. Obviously coming to the ground here this morning, securing 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 pitch which is doing quite a bit. But we’ve got to just come back 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 bowling unit, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller line definitely helped, it helped me, for sure, with my natural angle.” Defending the Approach There may be a sense of dissonance 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 just about crawling past three figures 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 take it back to them.” Tongue said there was no specific plan 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 appropriate moment to accelerate or put them into pressure. “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 exceptionally well. The runs that he got were obviously crucial in obviously a small first innings total.” Dismissing a Legend Tongue’s spell also contained the most recent instance in a run of consistent performances against Steve Smith, but he laughed off suggestions he might “hold an advantage” over him. “No, he’s clearly a world-class batter. 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. His reputation doesn't matter. 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 stumps 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 compacts and loses moisture it can be nice to bat on. So I don’t want to assume tomorrow that the pitch is going to do a lot. It could be a different proposition second innings.” Australia will begin 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 green-tinged wicket did too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.