Josh Tongue Archives

Josh Tongue ends 27-year wait with MCG five-wicket haul

England pacer Josh Tongue became the first English bowler in the 21st century to claim a five-wicket haul at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday during the Boxing Day Ashes Test.

Tongue ripped through Australia’s batting line-up with career-best figures of 5 for 45, as the hosts were skittled for just 152 in their first innings on the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test.

The achievement ended a 27-year drought for England at the MCG, with the last five-for at the ground coming in 1998 through Darren Gough and Dean Headley.

After England captain Ben Stokes opted to bowl on a visibly green surface, Josh Tongue led a relentless seam attack that made full use of the conditions.

The right-arm quick consistently found movement off the pitch, troubling Australia’s batters from the outset and keeping England firmly on top through the first two sessions.

Tongue’s effort marked his most productive spell in Test cricket, eclipsing his previous best of 5 for 66 against Ireland at Lord’s in 2023.

He came close to an even rarer feat late in the innings, finishing Australia’s first dig on a hat-trick after removing Michael Neser and Scott Boland with successive deliveries.

Australia struggled to build any meaningful partnerships, with Neser, recalled in place of captain Pat Cummins, top-scoring with 35.

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Usman Khawaja was the only other batter to offer some resistance, making 29 at the top of the order.

The home side’s troubles began early as Travis Head and Jake Weatherald were dismissed cheaply, while Steve Smith’s stay was short-lived as he was bowled for nine.

England maintained the pressure after lunch, with Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse chipping in with key breakthroughs to ensure Australia never recovered from the early damage.

However, the match swung sharply after tea as Australia hit back with the ball. England’s batting line-up collapsed to 110 in just 29.5 overs, handing the hosts a first-innings lead of 42 runs despite Tongue’s earlier heroics.

Neser capped off a strong all-round showing by leading Australia’s bowling attack with figures of 4 for 45 from 10 overs.

Scott Boland claimed three wickets, while Mitchell Starc supported well with two scalps on a pitch that continued to assist the seamers.

Harry Brook was the lone bright spot for England with an attacking 41 off 38 deliveries, while Atkinson added a valuable 28 from the lower order to push the total past the 100-run mark.

By stumps on day one, Australia had reached 4 without loss in a brief second-innings burst, extending their overall advantage to 46 runs.

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England make one change to Playing XI for third Ashes Test

England paceman Gus Atkinson was axed, with Josh Tongue replacing him in the playing XI for the third Ashes Test against Australia in Adelaide starting Wednesday as the tourists fight to stay alive in the series.

It was England’s only change, with off-spinner Will Jacks keeping his place ahead of Shoaib Bashir.

Atkinson struggled in eight-wicket defeats at Perth and Brisbane, clobbered for 236 with just three wickets to show for it.

Tongue was named Monday for his seventh Test to complement a pace attack led by Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse and skipper Ben Stokes.

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Bashir was considered England’s number one spinner leading into the tour, but he was overlooked in an all-pace attack for Perth, then Jacks got the nod in Brisbane.

Jacks only bowled 11.3 overs at the Gabba, taking 1-34, but was composed with the bat, cracking a gritty 41 in the second innings in a 96-run stand with Stokes.

England kept their same top seven, with the under-performing Ollie Pope fending off Jacob Bethell to retain his place at number three.

England Playing XI for third Ashes Test

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue

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Matthew Potts replaces Josh Tongue in England squad for West Indies series

England have called up Matthew Potts for their ODI series against the West Indies after seamer Josh Tongue was ruled out of the white-ball tour with an injury.

Jos Buttler’s team will play three 50-over matches in the Caribbean next month followed by five Twenty20 internationals, just weeks after their bitterly disappointing World Cup campaign.

Josh Tongue, 26, had continued his impressive breakthrough year on the international stage with a maiden white-ball call-up when the squads were announced earlier this month but he picked up an injury while on a training camp in the United Arab Emirates with the England Lions second-tier team.

Matthew Potts has represented England in three ODI matches during the series against Ireland in September.

Josh Tongue’s injury will rule him out of the whole tour of the West Indies, with Matthew Potts filling in his shoes in the ODI series, however no replacement for the T20I squad has been finalised yet.

The ODI series is set to begin in Antigua on December 3.

England ODI squad

Jos Buttler (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Phil Salt, Matthew Potts, John Turner

England vs West Indies series schedule

ODI series

1st ODI: West Indies v England – 3 December, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

2nd ODI: West Indies v England – 6 December, Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

3rd ODI: West Indies v England – 9 December, Kensington Oval, Barbados

T20I series

1st T20I: West Indies v England – 12 December, Kensington Oval, Barbados

2nd T20I: West Indies v England – 14 December, Grenada National Stadium, Grenada

3rd T20I: West Indies v England – 16 December, Grenada National Stadium, Grenada

4th T20I: West Indies v England – 19 December, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad

5th T20I: West Indies v England – 21 December, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad

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Josh Tongue added to England’s Playing XI for second Ashes Test

LONDON: Right-arm pacer Josh Tongue replaced veteran all-rounder Moeen Ali in England’s Playing XI for the second Ashes Test against Australia, scheduled to commence on June 28 at Lord’s.

Moeen Ali, who returned from Test retirement, suffered a blister on his right hand’s index finger during the first Ashes Test which saw England succumbing to a narrow two-wicket defeat after Pat Cummins’s masterclass.

Meanwhile, Josh Tongue was preferred over fellow seamer Chris Woakes and youngster Rehan Ahmed at the back of his magnificent five-wicket haul on his debut Test against Ireland last month.

Furthermore, Tongue is being foreseen as a cover for right-arm speedster Mark Wood, who was given an extra week to prepare fully for the Headingley Test.

“We needed to get to Lord’s first and see what conditions we were faced with,” England captain Ben Stokes said.

“We wanted to play Mark Wood but we felt while he could definitely start the game, we felt an extra week of build-up and loading him would give him a better chance to play fully from Headingley (third Test) onwards.

“And we brought Tonguey into the team as a like-for-like with Woody. I’m looking forward to seeing Tonguey continue his great start he had against Ireland here.

“Me and Mark are great friends, we go back a long way…I spoke to him about how I’d want him to operate in this game and he was very honest with me. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to give what he’s known for throughout this Test match. So the decision was made to allow him to keep building his body up to give himself the best opportunity to go out from Leeds onwards to play a full part.”

Ben Stokes further explained the decision of going with an all-pace attack and leaving Moeen Ali out of England Playing XI by asserting that Lord’s offers more to the seamers.

“We turned up here and have seen a lot of grass on the wicket, it is a bit green.

“Traditionally Lord’s offers more for seamers and with how Mo’s finger has recovered, actually recovered really well, I thought we would get more with four seamers and went with Tongue.”

England Playing XI for second Ashes Test:

Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson, Josh Tongue, James Anderson.

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Five-star Tongue strikes as England down gutsy Ireland

LONDON: England debutant fast bowler Josh Tongue marked his call-up to the Ashes squad with a five-wicket haul as England beat Ireland by 10 wickets in their warm-up match at Lord’s on Saturday.

After Tongue’s return of 5-66, it took England just four balls to score the 11 runs they needed for victory, with Zak Crawley hitting three fours off Mark Adair.

Ireland, yet to win any of their seven Tests, did well to take the match beyond tea on the third day of four as they avoided an innings defeat with a score of 362.

The tourists produced their own version of England’s aggressive ‘Bazball’ batting style during a record Ireland stand of 163 between the seventh-wicket duo of Andy McBrine (86 not out) and Adair (88).

England’s win was built on an imposing first-innings total of 524-4 declared featuring player of the match Ollie Pope’s 205 and Ben Duckett’s 182.

Victory meant England had now won 11 of their 13 Tests under captain Ben Stokes — who didn’t bat or bowl in this match — and coach Brendon McCullum.

Ireland resumed on 97-3, a deficit of 255 runs, with opener James McCollum unable to bat again having retired hurt Friday after twisting his right ankle trying to pull Tongue.

Ireland lost just one wicket in Saturday’s opening hour, with Lorcan Tucker (44) and Harry Tector (51) in the runs.

But they were 162-6 when Curtis Campher miscued a sweep off Root to short fine leg where England captain Ben Stokes, who has been battling a longstanding knee injury, hobbled after taking a simple catch.

The dismissal was Stokes’s first direct involvement in a match where he has yet to bat or bowl.

England want to protect the all-rounder’s fitness ahead of the Ashes, while still benefitting from his leadership skills.

But there was not much he could do tactically as McBrine and Adair played shots worthy of top-order batsmen on a placid pitch against an attack missing James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, both rested ahead of the first Test against Australia at Edgbaston which starts on June 16.

Adair took Ireland to 200 by hoisting Root for six.

And the fast bowler, whose previous highest Test score was 32 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in April, went to fifty with a four off Stuart Broad.

Left-hander McBrine’s fifty kept included 10 boundaries, with Broad and Leach taking the brunt of the assault.

But number nine Adair was eventually bounced out by Matthew Potts for a 76-ball 88 that included 12 fours and two sixes.

With Ireland nine wickets down after Fionn Hand’s exit, England were able to extend the afternoon session by 30 minutes in a bid to force victory before tea.

England were denied an innings win, however, when tailender Graham Hume hit two fours off successive deliveries from part-time off-spinner Joe Root — shots greeted by huge cheers from a sun-drenched crowd.

With McBrine 85 not out at tea, the question was whether Hume could stay in long enough to get his partner to a hundred and a coveted place on the Lord’s honours board.

But McBrine was left stranded when Hume was bowled by Broad.

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Worcestershire pacer Josh Tongue added to England’s squad for Ireland Test

LONDON: Worcestershire seamer Josh Tongue has been added to the England Men’s Test squad for the Test match against Ireland starting at Lord’s on Thursday 1 June 2023.

Josh Tongue has impressed for several seasons in domestic competition and was part of the England Lions tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year and featured prominently in the red ball part of that series.

Josh Tongue has come through the Worcestershire pathways from junior ranks and represented the club at all levels.

Luke Wright, England Men’s National Selector, said: “We have been monitoring Josh Tongue for quite some time and he deserves this call-up to the Test squad. It will be a great experience for him to understand and get used to the environment under Ben (Stokes) and Brendon (McCullum).

“It is important to have players ready to respond and with a big summer of Test cricket coming up, we will need that depth to our squad. We wish Josh and the rest of the squad well for the first international of the campaign.”

Josh Tongue will join up with the rest of the squad this weekend.

England Men’s Test Squad:

Ben Stokes (Durham) Captain
James Anderson (Lancashire)
Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Harry Brook (Yorkshire)
Zak Crawley (Kent)
Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire)
Dan Lawrence (Essex)
Jack Leach (Somerset)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Matthew Potts (Durham)
Ollie Robinson (Sussex)
Joe Root (Yorkshire)
Josh Tongue (Worcestershire)
Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)
Mark Wood (Durham)

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