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

After collapsing to a total of 110 in the MCG, another chapter in a difficult tour on the current Ashes tour, 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 action-packed 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. To be here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground with all my family in as well is the icing on the cake.”

The match situation is already leaning towards Australia, with a 46-run first-innings lead and set to bat again on an notoriously lively surface that could potentially ease 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. 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 bowling unit.”

“And obviously they’ve bowled well as well. It’s a surface offering significant movement. But we’ve got to just regroup 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 length was certainly beneficial, it helped me, definitely, with my natural angle.”

Justifying the Strategy

There may be something jarring for English fans in hearing Tongue repeated the playbook chapter headings about applying scoreboard pressure, playing an positive style of cricket and so on, something England did here by scraping past 100 runs at 3.7 runs an 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 specific plan 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 put pressure back on to the opposition, so the next batter in thinks it’s the appropriate moment to accelerate or put them into pressure.

“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 a low first-innings score.”

Claiming a Prized Scalp

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 clearly a world-class batter. I watched him as a kid, 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 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 Michael Neser, a key wicket taker in England’s reply and a long-time observer of the MCG surface.

“We know it can deteriorate quickly on day one and day two, then when the wicket hardens up and dries out 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 story second innings.”

Australia will resume on day two with all wickets intact 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 too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.