Josh Tongue marked his return to action with Worcestershire by taking a match-winning fourth innings five-wicket haul  against Leicestershire at Oakham School.

Tongue has enjoyed a breakout summer with England, taking 10 wickets from his first two Test appearances against Ireland and Australia at Lord’s.

The Nottinghamshire-bound seamer was part of England’s squad for the ongoing fourth Ashes Test in Manchester but was released to take part in the Division Two fixture, coming in as a substitute for Adam Finch during the Worcestershire second innings.

In a low-scoring game – no team total exceeded 200 – Tongue was lethal, claiming 5-29, including all three Leicestershire wickets to fall on the third morning to wrap the win for Worcestershire.

Tongue’s five-for included the wickets of three Test cricketers – Wiaan Mulder, Peter Handscomb and Rehan Ahmed – all of whom have represented their nations in the last 12 months.

His first victim was Handscomb, who was beaten and bowled by an in-swinger that uprooted the Australian’s off stump. South Africa all-rounder Mulder followed Handscomb to the pavilion two balls later, gloving one behind to Worcestershire wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick.

Tongue polished off the Leicestershire innings on the third morning, first dismissing Ahmed, who also fell edging behind to Roderick, before snaring Callum Parkinson with a sharp bouncer and then No. 11 Matt Salisbury with a pinpoint yorker to seal a 100-run win.

You can watch Josh Tongue’s three day three wickets below:

You can watch Tongue’s dismissal of Mulder below:

You can watch Tongue’s dismissal of Handscomb below:

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County Championship Division One, 2023AustraliaEnglandWorcestershire Josh TongueCounty CricketEngland v AustraliaSeries Editorial