‘The Wicket is Offering Plenty’: Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Defends England 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 fourth Test was also a career high.
“It’s a dream come true,” Tongue said at the end of a action-packed 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. 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 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 personal best figures of 5/45 as England dismissed Australia for 152.
“It’s been an amazing day of Test match cricket on this historic day. Arriving at the venue this morning, winning the toss and electing to bowl first, I thought we did an amazing job as a bowling unit.”
“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 group, you’re going to get your rewards. It feels like that fuller length was certainly beneficial, it helped me, for sure, with my natural angle.”
Defending the Approach
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 just about crawling past three figures at 3.7 runs an over. “It’s how we play our cricket. We play a highly aggressive style of cricket. We try and force the issue and seize the initiative.”
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 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 really well. The runs that he got were absolutely vital in obviously a small first innings total.”
Dismissing a Legend
Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of consistent performances against Steve Smith, but he laughed off suggestions he might “hold an advantage” over him.
“No, he’s clearly a world-class batter. I watched him as a kid, and obviously getting him out 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 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 leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a long-time observer of the Melbourne pitch.
“We know it can move real fast on day one and day two, then when the wicket compacts and loses moisture 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 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 grassy pitch did excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a brief reply. “I’m a bowler, so no”.
