Josh Tongue intends to bowl wobble-seam more often after his first attempt at it gave him a wicket as England took charge against embattled Pakistan at Edgbaston.
The delivery which causes unpredictable movement off the pitch has been in-vogue this summer, with Ollie Robinson using it to devastating effect, taking 19 wickets in this series at an average of 6.84.
While Tongue has an impressive arsenal himself, the paceman turned to Robinson for advice on wobble-seam and started bowling it in the nets this week before deciding on unleashing it in the middle.
Saud Shakeel played a lone hand for Pakistan but was bowled through the gate for 43 as Pakistan were all out for a paltry 133, with Tongue earning a grudging nod of respect from the middle-order batter.
“I’ve spoken to Robbo quite a bit about it, obviously he’s unbelievable at that (wobble-seam) and he’s showed that throughout the series,” Tongue said.
“I just tried a couple of things in training the other day. That was the first time I bowled it in a game and it got me a wicket so I’ll be using it again.”
Tongue claimed four for 42 while Robinson and Jofra Archer shared six wickets as Pakistan’s shake-up since going 2-0 down in the three-match series had minimal impact on their miserable fortunes.
England then went to stumps on the opening day on 156 for four and a lead of 23 thanks to fifties from Emilio Gay and Harry Brook.
open image in gallery“An unbelievable performance from everyone,” Tongue said. “The pitch looked a good one and winning the toss and bowling first, there’s probably a bit of pressure on us as bowlers. But we did really well.
“I still want to improve massively and I feel like I’m in the best position I can be at the minute.”
While Brook will resume on 52 not out after surviving a testing period late on from Mohammad Abbas with the wicketkeeper up to the stumps, Gay dragged on off Razaullah, one of three Pakistan debutants, for 60.
Razaullah, a 21-year-old operating at 90mph, had already dismissed England captain Joe Root for his 10th lbw in 13 innings before Gay, having put on 104 alongside Brook, perished to the youngster.
open image in galleryGay was averaging 23.44 from his first five Tests albeit after batting on a succession of seam bowler-friendly pitches, and he will rue the inability to make a substantial score and ink himself into England’s winter plans.
“The one thing I’ve seen in Emilio is he trains really hard in the nets, he’ll bat for ages putting a lot of hard work in and it’s shown out on the pitch now,” Tongue added.
“Even (in the last Test) at Lord’s, he had two quite horrible dismissals, but he batted unbelievably well on a tricky pitch. He was obviously really disappointed how he got out, it’s not a nice feeling, chopping on.
“But he’s put the team in a really good position for tomorrow. That first hour tomorrow is going to be very crucial, we’ve just got to get through that first bit and hopefully get a bigger lead.”