‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Tongue Revels in Five-Fer and Defends England’s Aggressive Mindset.

England may have been bowled out for 110 in the MCG, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain on the current Ashes tour, but for the young seamer day one of the Boxing Day Test was also a personal milestone.

“Dreams 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. To be here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with all my family in as well is the icing on the cake.”

The state of the game is already leaning towards Australia, with a 46-run first-innings lead and batting again on an notoriously lively surface that may now settle on day two. But this was also Tongue’s day, the star performer with a career best five for 45 as England dismissed Australia for 152.

“It’s been an amazing day of Test match cricket on this historic day. Obviously coming to the ground here this morning, securing the toss and electing to bowl first, I thought we did a superb job as a collective attack.”

“And obviously they’ve bowled well as well. It’s a pitch which is doing quite a bit. 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 reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller length was certainly beneficial, it helped me, definitely, with my 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 just about crawling past three figures 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 take it back to them.”

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. “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 appropriate moment to accelerate or put them into pressure.

“I think, identifying scoring areas is vitally important on this sort of wicket when the ball is doing a bit more. But yeah, I thought Harry Brook batted exceptionally 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 most recent instance in a run of cross-format success against the Australian captain, 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 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 a great feeling.”

The Bowler’s Perspective

There was a more ominous take at stumps from an Australian bowler, a key wicket taker in England’s reply and a long-time observer 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 in the second innings.”

Australia will begin 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. “I’m a bowler, so no”.