The Ashes: Josh Tongue’s pacey burst lifts England at Lord’s on otherwise gloomy opening to second Test

On day one at Lord’s the gloomy conditions that hovered overhead were very much mirrored by England’s miserable performance on the field.

Presented with ideal bowling conditions with which to exploit after winning the toss, England, frankly, wasted them.

England were “flat” and “sloppy”, according to Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain, were said to be “pedestrian” by Sir Andrew Strauss, while Kevin Pietersen had a few more choice words for their performance – “shambolic” chief among them.

With hardly a break in the clouds throughout the day, the sun failed to shine on any of the England attack – but for a couple of impressive dismissals from young quick Josh Tongue on his Ashes debut.

Tongue’s 2-88 on day one will not go down in Ashes folklore alongside Shane Warne’s ‘Ball of the Century’, Andrew Flintoff’s over at Edgbaston or Stuart Broad’s eight-for at Trent Bridge, but he provided something England’s attack has badly lacked, and not just today. A point of difference.

England have long desired to combat Australia with the deadly dual threat of extreme pace and bounce – admittedly, eyeing the reverse tour as the preferable location to unleash a battery of quicks – but they have simply not been able to get such an attack on the field.

Jofra Archer is out for the summer and is almost two-and-a-half years removed from earning the last of his 13 Test caps due to a reoccurring elbow issue, among other niggles; Olly Stone is also currently injured and there was enough doubt over Mark Wood’s fitness for Tongue to leapfrog him for this Test. The likes of Jamie Overton, Saqib Mahmood and Brydon Carse, who could be in contention, are also injured.

For all of the undoubted brilliance of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, there have been Tests, even tours in which previous England regimes have attempted to phase them out, ‘rest them’, in favour of a fresh, fiery, varied combination of pacers.

The reason being, if both play, then England’s attack can appear samey and one-paced, particularly if the third seamer’s spot is not occupied by a genuine fast bowler, capable of testing the technique and temperament of opposition batters with 90mph-plus bowling. Worsened still if the skipper Ben Stokes is unable to hit his top speed with the ball due knee niggles, like is currently the case.

That was evident in the first Test at Edgbaston, even though England’s triumvirate of Anderson, Broad and Ollie Robinson diligently grafted away on an unresponsive wicket.

Pure pace can not only provide that point of difference, but it can compliment the consistent line and lengths hit by Anderson, Broad et al at the other end. Most crucially though, it can conjure up something out of nothing for a side badly lacking a spark – just as England were on day one of the second Ashes Test.

Tongue provided that, grabbing his unexpected opportunity with both hands as he first bowled Usman Khawaja with what proved to be the final ball before lunch, ending a 73-run opening stand.

Pace also makes people do funny things, rush them into questionable decisions, such as shouldering arms to a delivery that knocks out your off stump – just as Khawaja did.

Admittedly, Tongue’s delivery was more nuanced than a simple straight one that the Australian opener decided to leave. Operating from round the wicket, the 25-year-old got the ball to jag back in sharply down the slope to the left-hander from the Nursery End.

His delivery to dismiss the set David Warner was even better. Again, hooping in to the lefty – a ball after having beaten the inside edge with a similar delivery – Tongue pushed it up slightly fuller and scattered the stumps.

“Tongue has looked England’s most threatening bowler today, without a shadow of a doubt,” Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton said. “He has been the quickest – in the high 80s [mph] – and has looked the most penetrative.

“The two [wicket] balls, in particular the second one to Warner, were absolute crackers. So far, he is proving to be a good selection.”

Impressive though that delivery to Warner was, nay his full spell either side of lunch, Tongue also proved expensive. With the added pace are also greater opportunities to score boundaries, and the Worcestershire quick conceded 12 of them, plus one six, over his 18 overs at an economy rate of 4.88.

One Test five-for on debut against Ireland and a couple of wickets here does not mean England have finally solved their pace problems – especially given Tongue tends to operate more in the mid to high 80s, rather than at 90mph-plus.

He also is another to have been plagued by injuries over the years, missing 15 months of cricket between 2021 and 2022 due to a right shoulder problem which required two operations, so he’s not exactly one to be penned in yet as a 10-year Test veteran capable of leading England’s attack.

But Tongue does provide this particular bowling group with one vitally important thing: a point of difference. And his wickets on Wednesday at Lord’s were a much-needed break in the clouds that loomed large over England’s on-field struggles.

Watch day two of the second men’s Ashes Test at Lord’s live on Sky Sports Cricket. Coverage starts from 10.15am with the first ball at 11am. Also stream on NOW TV.