🔗 Share this article ‘The Pitch is Doing Quite a Bit’: Tongue Revels in Five-Wicket Haul and Justifies England 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 fourth Test was also a personal milestone. “Dreams come true,” he stated 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 obviously feels very special. Being here at the MCG with all my family in as well makes it even better.” The state of the game is already stacked in Australia’s favour, 46 runs ahead on first innings and batting again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that could potentially ease on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the star performer with a personal best figures of 5/45 as England dismissed Australia for 152. “It was a fantastic day of Test cricket on this historic day. Arriving at the venue this morning, securing the toss and putting the Aussies in to bat, I thought we did an amazing 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 come back tomorrow and do the same again.” “I feel like if you bowl in good areas, which I felt like we did today as a group, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller length definitely helped, it helped me, for sure, with my natural angle.” Defending the Approach 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 3.7 runs an over. “That’s our brand of cricket. We play a highly aggressive style 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 the next batter in thinks it’s the appropriate moment to accelerate or put them into pressure. “I think, knowing where you’re scoring options are is vitally important 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.” Claiming a Prized Scalp Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of cross-format success against Steve Smith, but he dismissed suggestions he might “hold an advantage” over him. “No, he’s clearly a world-class batter. 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 main goal is to get the batter out at the other end. So yeah, it’s obviously a nice feeling.” The Bowler’s Perspective There was a more cautious assessment at close of play from Michael Neser, 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 hardens up and dries out 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 proposition in the 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 too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a brief reply. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.
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 fourth Test was also a personal milestone. “Dreams come true,” he stated 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 obviously feels very special. Being here at the MCG with all my family in as well makes it even better.” The state of the game is already stacked in Australia’s favour, 46 runs ahead on first innings and batting again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that could potentially ease on day two. But this was undeniably Tongue’s moment, the star performer with a personal best figures of 5/45 as England dismissed Australia for 152. “It was a fantastic day of Test cricket on this historic day. Arriving at the venue this morning, securing the toss and putting the Aussies in to bat, I thought we did an amazing 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 come back tomorrow and do the same again.” “I feel like if you bowl in good areas, which I felt like we did today as a group, you’re going to reap the benefits. It feels like that fuller length definitely helped, it helped me, for sure, with my natural angle.” Defending the Approach 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 3.7 runs an over. “That’s our brand of cricket. We play a highly aggressive style 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 the next batter in thinks it’s the appropriate moment to accelerate or put them into pressure. “I think, knowing where you’re scoring options are is vitally important 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.” Claiming a Prized Scalp Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of cross-format success against Steve Smith, but he dismissed suggestions he might “hold an advantage” over him. “No, he’s clearly a world-class batter. 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 main goal is to get the batter out at the other end. So yeah, it’s obviously a nice feeling.” The Bowler’s Perspective There was a more cautious assessment at close of play from Michael Neser, 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 hardens up and dries out 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 proposition in the 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 too much on day one of a Test, Neser had a brief reply. “As a bowler, I'd say no”.