🔗 Share this article ‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Josh Tongue Celebrates Five-Wicket Haul and Justifies England’s Aggressive Mindset. Despite being dismissed for a modest 110 in Melbourne, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain 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 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. 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 batting again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that may now settle on day two. But this was also Tongue’s day, the star performer with a career best five for 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 electing to bowl first, I thought we did an amazing job as a collective attack.” “Credit to them, they bowled well too. 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 get your rewards. It feels like that fuller length was certainly beneficial, it helped me, definitely, with my natural angle.” Justifying the Strategy 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 positive style of cricket and so on, something England did here by just about crawling past three figures at a rate of 3.7 per 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. “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 accelerate or put them into pressure. “I think, identifying scoring areas is vitally important on this sort of wicket when the ball is doing a bit more. But yeah, I thought Brookie batted exceptionally well. The runs that he got were absolutely vital in a low first-innings score.” Dismissing a Legend Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of consistent performances 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 batsman 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 stumps from Michael Neser, a key 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 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 in the second innings.” Australia will begin day two with 10 wickets in hand and Travis Head at the crease, alongside surely one of the best-supported 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 concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.
Despite being dismissed for a modest 110 in Melbourne, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain 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 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. 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 batting again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that may now settle on day two. But this was also Tongue’s day, the star performer with a career best five for 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 electing to bowl first, I thought we did an amazing job as a collective attack.” “Credit to them, they bowled well too. 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 get your rewards. It feels like that fuller length was certainly beneficial, it helped me, definitely, with my natural angle.” Justifying the Strategy 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 positive style of cricket and so on, something England did here by just about crawling past three figures at a rate of 3.7 per 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. “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 accelerate or put them into pressure. “I think, identifying scoring areas is vitally important on this sort of wicket when the ball is doing a bit more. But yeah, I thought Brookie batted exceptionally well. The runs that he got were absolutely vital in a low first-innings score.” Dismissing a Legend Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of consistent performances 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 batsman 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 stumps from Michael Neser, a key 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 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 in the second innings.” Australia will begin day two with 10 wickets in hand and Travis Head at the crease, alongside surely one of the best-supported 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 concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.