Cricket fans are questioning why England didn’t pick Josh Tongue earlier in the Ashes series after he made some special history at the MCG on Friday. The England seamer took 5-45 as Australia were bowled out for just 152 on the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test.
It made Tongue the first male English player to take a five-wicket haul at the MCG in 27 years. The last time it occurred was Dean Headley and Darren Gough back in 1998, who both took five-wickets hauls in that year’s Boxing Day Test. Sophie Ecclestone did it in February in the women’s Ashes Test, but a man hadn’t done it for the Poms in 27 years.
Josh Tongue etched his name onto the MCG honours board (L) after being overlooked for the first two Ashes Test. Image: MCG/Getty
It’s sparked questions as to why Tongue was overlooked for the first two Tests, after he arguably showed he’s England’s best bowler. He only came in for the third Test in Adelaide after Gus Atkinson was dropped, and was retained for Melbourne when Jofra Archer was ruled out.
But many are now asking why he hasn’t played the whole series. One person wrote online: “That is superb from Josh Tongue and shows why he should’ve bowled a lot earlier in this Ashes.” Another commented: “Time to laugh at Baz and Stokes for not selecting Josh Tongue in the series earlier.”
Tongue snared the prized wickets of Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, before cleaning up Michael Neser and Scott Boland at the death. Remarkably, it was the fifth time Tongue has dismissed Smith (four in Tests and one in County Cricket), and Smith averages just 11.67 against the Englishman.
“He’s obviously an amazing player,” Tongue said of Smith after stumps. “I’ve grown up watching him and obviously getting him out is a very special feeling. But to me he’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.”
Was Josh Tongue robbed of best chance to take hat-trick?
Tongue’s dismissals of Neser and Boland came in consecutive balls, putting him on a hat-trick in Australia’s second innings. But there was disbelief when Ben Stokes didn’t hand him the ball for the opening over of the innings on Friday evening.
Josh Tongue became the first male England bowler to take a five-wicket haul at the MCG since 1998. (Photo by Santanu Banik/MB Media/Getty Images)
Boland opened the batting as night-watchman, and many thought Tongue (rather than Atkinson) should have been handed the ball to give him his best chance of completing the hat-trick. Instead, Atkinson gave up four runs as Boland survived.
“How could you miss the memo?” one English commentator said on BBC. “Tongue had such a great chance (to get the hat-trick in that moment), but instead [Stokes] goes ‘these are the plans, let’s give it to Gus’. All of us, our hearts sank.”