‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Tongue Celebrates Five-Wicket Haul 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 career high.

“Dreams 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 is incredibly special. To be here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with all my family in as well is the icing on the cake.”

The state of the game is already leaning towards Australia, with a 46-run first-innings lead and set to bat 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 Boxing Day. Obviously coming to the ground here this morning, securing the toss and putting the Aussies in to bat, I thought we did an amazing 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 regroup tomorrow and repeat the performance.”

“I feel like if you bowl in good areas, which I felt like we did today as a group, you’re going to get your rewards. It feels like that fuller length definitely helped, it helped me, for sure, with my angle.”

Defending the Approach

There may be a sense of dissonance for English fans in hearing Tongue echo the familiar mantras 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. “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, perhaps inadvisably given they were bowled out in less than 30 overs. “We didn’t have an extensive discussion. I feel like we want to immediately put the bowlers under pressure, so the next batter in 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 moving around. But yeah, I thought Brookie batted really well. The runs that he got were absolutely vital in obviously a small first innings total.”

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 clearly a world-class batter. I watched him as a kid, and dismissing him 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.”

The Bowler’s Perspective

There was a more ominous take at stumps 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 deteriorate quickly 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 assume tomorrow that the pitch is going to do a lot. It could be a different story second innings.”

Australia will resume on 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 homegrown talent Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the green-tinged wicket did excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a brief reply. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.