‘The Wicket is Offering Plenty’: Tongue Revels in Five-Fer and Defends England Aggressive Mindset.
Despite being dismissed for a modest 110 in the MCG, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain on the current Ashes tour, but for Josh Tongue day one of the fourth Test was also a career high.
“It’s a dream come true,” he stated 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 obviously feels very 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 batting again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that could potentially ease 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 this historic day. Obviously coming to the ground here this morning, securing the toss and electing to bowl first, 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 get your rewards. It feels like that fuller line was certainly beneficial, it helped me, definitely, with my angle.”
Justifying the Strategy
There may be a sense of dissonance for English fans in hearing Tongue echo the familiar mantras about applying scoreboard pressure, playing an positive style of cricket and so on, something England did here by scraping past 100 runs at a rate of 3.7 per 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 real direction on how England would bat on this surface, arguably unwisely given they were bowled out in less than 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 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 obviously crucial in a low first-innings score.”
Dismissing a Legend
Tongue’s spell also contained the most recent instance in a run of consistent performances 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 batsman that I want to try and get out. His reputation doesn't matter. My primary objective 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 cautious assessment at close of play from an Australian bowler, a key wicket taker in England’s reply and a long-time observer of the MCG surface.
“We know it can move real fast 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 have the preconceptions tomorrow that the pitch is going to offer as much. It could be a different story second innings.”
Australia will begin day two with all wickets intact and Travis Head at the crease, alongside surely one of the best-supported nightwatchmen in Test history, the local boy Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the grassy pitch did too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.
