Josh Tongue says it will be a ‘dream come true’ when he makes a shock England Test debut at Lord’s, a ground he has never played at before.
Tongue will slip on the England whites for the first time against Ireland this week after impressing enough on tour with the Lions and then in the nets to leapfrog Chris Woakes into the Test side.
Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have made the call to have a look at the 25-year-old Worcestershire seamer even though he was originally only called up to the squad as cover for the injured Ollie Robinson.
But once you’re in the squad you are available for selection and clearly the right arm paceman who dismissed both Steve Smith and Cheteshwar Pujara earlier this summer has impressed.
“It's an amazing feeling,” said Tongue. “Speechless really, even from when I got the first call up to be in the squad. Now being in the actual team, it's just a dream come true really.
“I bowled at some of the lads on Monday. I felt like I bowled nicely and obviously I was going in with no expectations to be playing at all and just bowling at high class players at the nets was just good for me. I must have bowled fairly well to get selected.
“I’ve never played at Lord’s before for Worcester so it’s my first time being here and experiencing the ground as a player. I’ve been as a fan in the crowd but never played.”
It is a huge reward for Tongue, who came close to giving up the game and retiring due to a rare shoulder condition called thoracic outlet syndrome.
It left him unable to feel the ball in his hands due to an impingement on his nerves, but two operations and a botox injection cleared up the issue and allowed him to continue playing, and eight wickets in a Lions ‘Test’ against Sri Lanka in front of England managing director Rob Key led him to this point.
“I’m just proud of myself and how I held in there,” he added. “I was very close to retiring just due to my shoulder. Having two operations, seeing a lot of specialists and I was in a really dark place.
“Since I was a young kid I always dreamt about playing for England. Now knowing I stuck in there, shows that mentally I was in a good place and it’s come good.”
Thursday will be a huge day for him and his family with his dad Phil, a cricket coach, particularly proud of the young boy he helped at the start of his journey.
It also makes it clear that Tongue is firmly in England’s Ashes plans this summer with a desire to get him some Test experience before then. Even if he is trying not to think about it.
“It’s going to be a very emotional day for my dad,” added Tongue. “He’s that sort of character. “He even coached me back in the day when I was playing all my age group stuff.
“I’m the sort of person to stay in the present. I try not to think too much ahead of myself, and whatever game I play in I just try and perform and do as much as I can for the team.
“So I’m not really thinking about the Ashes as such at the minute. I’m trying to focus on this game first.”
