England may have been bowled out for 110 in Melbourne, another revolution of the unceasing wheel of pain that is the current Ashes tour, but for Josh Tongue day one of the fourth Test was also a career high.
“Dreams come true,” Tongue said at the end of a day when 20 wickets fell, five of them to him in Australia’s first innings. “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 makes it even better.”
The match situation is already stacked in Australia’s favour, 46 runs ahead on first innings and batting again on an alarmingly sporty pitch that may now settle on day two. But this was also Tongue’s day, star performer with a career best five for 45 as England rolled Australia out for 152.
“It’s been an amazing day of Test match cricket on Boxing Day. Obviously coming to the ground here this morning and winning 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 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 bowling unit, you’re going to get your rewards. It feels like that fuller length definitely helped, it helped me, definitely, with my angle.”
There may be something jarring for English fans in hearing Tongue repeated the playbook chapter headings about putting pressure on their opponents, playing an attractive brand of cricket and so on, something England did here by just about crawling past three figures 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 real direction on how England would bat on this surface, perhaps inadvisably given they were bowled out in less than 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 whoever walks out into the middle thinks it’s the right time to obviously shift a gear or put them into pressure.
“I think, knowing where you’re scoring options are is obviously crucial on this sort of wicket when the ball is doing a bit more. But yeah, I thought Brookie batted really well. The runs that he got were obviously crucial in obviously a small first innings total.”
Tongue’s spell also contained the latest stage in a run of cross-format success against Steve Smith, but he laughed off suggestions he might “have the wood” over Australia’s captain.
“No, he’s obviously an amazing player. I’ve grown up watching him, and obviously getting him out 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 main goal is to get the batter out at the other end. So yeah, it’s obviously a nice feeling.”
There was a more ominous take at close of play from Michael Neser, Australia’s key wicket taker in England’s reply, and a career-long student of the MCG surface.
“We know it can move real fast 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 do a lot. It could be a different story second innings.”
Australia will resume on day two with 10 wickets in hand and Travis Head 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 concise answer. “I’m a bowler, so no”.
