🔗 Share this article ‘The Surface is Providing Assistance’: Tongue Celebrates Five-Fer and Justifies England’s Batting Approach. After collapsing to a total of 110 in the MCG, yet another challenging episode on the current Ashes tour, but for Josh Tongue day one of the fourth Test was also a personal milestone. “Dreams come true,” he stated at the end of a hectic day where 20 wickets fell. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, whether at home or abroad, 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 state of the game is already stacked in Australia’s favour, 46 runs ahead on first innings and batting again on an notoriously lively surface 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 rolled Australia out for 152. “It’s been an amazing day of Test match cricket on this historic day. Obviously coming to the ground here 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 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 group, you’re going to get your rewards. It feels like that fuller line was certainly beneficial, it helped me, for sure, 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 just about crawling past three figures at a rate of 3.7 per over. “That’s our brand of 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 specific plan 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 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 into pressure. “I think, identifying scoring areas is vitally important 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 obviously crucial in obviously a small first innings total.” Claiming a Prized Scalp Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of consistent performances against the Australian captain, but he laughed off suggestions he might “have the wood” over him. “No, he’s obviously an amazing player. I watched him as a kid, and dismissing him 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 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 cautious assessment at close of play from an Australian bowler, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a career-long student of the Melbourne pitch. “We know it can deteriorate quickly 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 have the preconceptions tomorrow that the pitch is going to offer as much. It could be a different story second innings.” Australia will resume on day two with 10 wickets in hand and their aggressive left-hander 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 excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.
After collapsing to a total of 110 in the MCG, yet another challenging episode on the current Ashes tour, but for Josh Tongue day one of the fourth Test was also a personal milestone. “Dreams come true,” he stated at the end of a hectic day where 20 wickets fell. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, whether at home or abroad, 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 state of the game is already stacked in Australia’s favour, 46 runs ahead on first innings and batting again on an notoriously lively surface 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 rolled Australia out for 152. “It’s been an amazing day of Test match cricket on this historic day. Obviously coming to the ground here 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 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 group, you’re going to get your rewards. It feels like that fuller line was certainly beneficial, it helped me, for sure, 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 just about crawling past three figures at a rate of 3.7 per over. “That’s our brand of 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 specific plan 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 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 into pressure. “I think, identifying scoring areas is vitally important 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 obviously crucial in obviously a small first innings total.” Claiming a Prized Scalp Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of consistent performances against the Australian captain, but he laughed off suggestions he might “have the wood” over him. “No, he’s obviously an amazing player. I watched him as a kid, and dismissing him 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 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 cautious assessment at close of play from an Australian bowler, a leading wicket-taker in England’s reply and a career-long student of the Melbourne pitch. “We know it can deteriorate quickly 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 have the preconceptions tomorrow that the pitch is going to offer as much. It could be a different story second innings.” Australia will resume on day two with 10 wickets in hand and their aggressive left-hander 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 excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.