‘The Wicket is Offering Plenty’: Tongue Revels in Five-Fer and Defends England Batting Approach.
Despite being dismissed for a modest 110 in the MCG, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain on this Ashes campaign, but for the young seamer day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a personal milestone.
“It’s a dream come true,” Tongue said at the end of a hectic day where 20 wickets fell. “Playing in the Ashes has always been the goal, whether at home or abroad, and this is incredibly special. Being here at the MCG with all my family in as well makes it even better.”
The state of the game is already leaning towards Australia, 46 runs ahead on first innings and batting again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that could potentially ease on day two. But this was also Tongue’s day, the standout bowler with a personal best figures of 5/45 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, securing the toss and electing to bowl first, I thought we did an amazing job as a bowling unit.”
“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 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 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 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 scraping past 100 runs at a rate of 3.7 per over. “That’s our brand of cricket. We play a highly aggressive style of cricket. We try and put pressure on the opposition and seize the initiative.”
Tongue said there was no specific plan on how England would bat on this surface, perhaps inadvisably 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 obviously shift a gear or put them on the back foot.
“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 obviously crucial in obviously a small first innings total.”
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 obviously an amazing player. I’ve grown up watching him, 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 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 ominous take at stumps from an Australian bowler, a leading 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 good for batting. So I don’t want to assume tomorrow that the pitch is going to offer as much. It could be a different story in the second innings.”
Australia will resume on 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 brief reply. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.
