‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Josh Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Justifies England’s Aggressive Mindset.

England may have been bowled out for 110 in Melbourne, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain on the current Ashes tour, but for Josh Tongue 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 action-packed day where 20 wickets fell. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, 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 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 may now settle 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 was a fantastic day of Test cricket on this historic day. Arriving at the venue this morning, securing the toss and putting the Aussies in to bat, I thought we did a superb job as a bowling unit.”

“Credit to them, they bowled well too. It’s a pitch which is doing quite a bit. But we’ve got to just regroup tomorrow and do the same again.”

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

Justifying the Strategy

There may be something jarring for English fans in hearing Tongue echo the familiar mantras 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. “It’s how we play our cricket. We play a very positive brand of cricket. We try and put pressure on the opposition and seize the initiative.”

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. “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 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 Harry Brook 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 most recent instance in a run of cross-format success against Steve Smith, 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 batter 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 ominous take at stumps from an Australian bowler, a key wicket taker in England’s reply and a career-long student of the MCG surface.

“We know it can move real fast on day one and day two, then when the wicket compacts and loses moisture 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 proposition second innings.”

Australia will begin 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 concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.