‘The Wicket is Offering Plenty’: Tongue Revels in Five-Wicket Haul and Defends England Aggressive Mindset.
After collapsing to a total of 110 in the MCG, 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,” he stated at the end of a hectic day where a remarkable 20 wickets tumbled. “Playing in the Ashes has always been the goal, 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 makes it even better.”
The match situation is already leaning towards Australia, with a 46-run first-innings lead and set to bat again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that may now settle on day two. But this was also Tongue’s day, the standout bowler with a career best five for 45 as England dismissed Australia for 152.
“It was a fantastic day of Test cricket on Boxing Day. Arriving at the venue this morning, winning the toss and putting the Aussies in to bat, I thought we did a superb job as a collective attack.”
“Credit to them, they bowled well too. 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 bowling unit, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller length definitely helped, it helped me, for sure, with my angle.”
Justifying the Strategy
There may be something jarring 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 very positive brand of cricket. We try and put pressure on the opposition 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. “There wasn’t really a big chat at all. 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 into pressure.
“I think, identifying scoring areas is obviously crucial 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 absolutely vital in a low first-innings score.”
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 “hold an advantage” 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 batsman that I want to try and get out. It doesn’t really matter who he is. My primary objective 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 ominous take 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 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 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 grassy pitch did excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.
