🔗 Share this article ‘The Wicket is Offering Plenty’: Tongue Celebrates Five-Wicket Haul 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 this Ashes campaign, but for the young seamer day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a career high. “Dreams come true,” Tongue said at the end of a hectic day where 20 wickets fell. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, 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 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 undeniably Tongue’s moment, 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 pitch which is doing quite a bit. But we’ve got to just come back tomorrow and repeat the performance.” “I feel like if you bowl in good areas, which I felt like we did today as a bowling unit, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller line definitely helped, it helped me, definitely, with my natural angle.” Justifying the Strategy There may be a sense of dissonance for English fans in hearing Tongue echo the familiar mantras about putting pressure on their opponents, playing an attractive brand of cricket and so on, something England did here by scraping past 100 runs at 3.7 runs an over. “That’s our brand of cricket. We play a very positive brand of cricket. We try and put pressure on the opposition 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 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 accelerate or put them on the back foot. “I think, knowing where you’re scoring options are 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.” Dismissing a Legend Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage 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’ve grown up watching him, and dismissing him is a huge thrill. But yeah, to me, it’s just another batter that I want to try and get out. His reputation doesn't matter. 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 cautious assessment at stumps from Michael Neser, 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 good for batting. 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 most popular nightwatchmen in Test history, the local boy Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the green-tinged wicket did excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.
England may have been bowled out for 110 in Melbourne, 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 career high. “Dreams come true,” Tongue said at the end of a hectic day where 20 wickets fell. “I’ve always wanted to play in the Ashes, 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 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 undeniably Tongue’s moment, 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 pitch which is doing quite a bit. But we’ve got to just come back tomorrow and repeat the performance.” “I feel like if you bowl in good areas, which I felt like we did today as a bowling unit, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller line definitely helped, it helped me, definitely, with my natural angle.” Justifying the Strategy There may be a sense of dissonance for English fans in hearing Tongue echo the familiar mantras about putting pressure on their opponents, playing an attractive brand of cricket and so on, something England did here by scraping past 100 runs at 3.7 runs an over. “That’s our brand of cricket. We play a very positive brand of cricket. We try and put pressure on the opposition 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 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 accelerate or put them on the back foot. “I think, knowing where you’re scoring options are 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.” Dismissing a Legend Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage 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’ve grown up watching him, and dismissing him is a huge thrill. But yeah, to me, it’s just another batter that I want to try and get out. His reputation doesn't matter. 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 cautious assessment at stumps from Michael Neser, 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 good for batting. 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 most popular nightwatchmen in Test history, the local boy Scott Boland. Asked if he felt the green-tinged wicket did excessive amounts on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.