Melbourne [Australia], December 26 : England pacer Josh Tongue enjoyed his outing on Day 1 of the fourth Ashes Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), as he became the first England bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a Boxing Day Test. However, England's batting remained their weak point in the series as they got all out for just 110 runs in reply to Australia's 152 on a happening Melbourne pitch. Tongue defended England's batting, saying it's how the Three Lions play.
England bowled Australia out for just 152 in the first innings, led by Josh Tongue's figures of 5 for 45 and Gus Atkinson's 2 for 28. However, England's batters fared even worse, collapsing for 110 in response as Australia's Michael Neser claimed 4 for 46 and Scott Boland took 3 for 30, forcing England's bowlers back out to the middle once again on the same day.
When asked whether it was frustrating to return to bowl again despite doing a good job earlier, Josh Tongue backed England's approach with the bat. Tongue said he was not frustrated about having to bowl again, defending England's aggressive batting approach and expressing confidence that the team would bounce back despite it not working on the day.
"I don't mind. 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. Obviously, it didn't work as well today, but we're going to come back again," Tongue said in the post-day conference.
He praised the bowling unit's performance, acknowledged the pitch's assistance to both sides, and emphasised the need to replicate their first-innings effort on Day 2.
"I thought we did an amazing job as a bowling unit. And obviously they've bowled well as well. It's obviously a pitch which is doing quite a bit. But yeah, we've got to come back tomorrow and do the same again what we did in the first innings."
Speaking about the MCG pitch, which produced 20 wickets on the opening day, Tongue said, "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. So if you just stay patient and hang in there. I feel like that fuller length definitely helped."
"It helped me definitely with my angle. And making sure you're hitting the pitch hard as well. So I felt like if you were that short of a length, you just sort of sat up a tiny bit, but just making sure you're brave with your length," he added.
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