Stop press

Hold the back page. The kangaroo still boxes. With hostile fast-bowling, sledging and stumps flying Australia did what they used to do best and turned around the course of the 3rd Test inside two sessions of the second day.

Written off by all and sundry following his dismal showing in Brisbane and no-show at Adelaide it was Mitchell Johnson with 6 wickets that strong-armed the recovery. England collapsed to lose all their batsmen in 39 overs for 109 runs and slump to 187 all out with a deficit of 81 on first innings. On a day where Ricky Ponting woke to read the Australian press hanging his ‘rudderless rabble’ out to dry it was his fastest bowler with most to prove who stepped up to the mark. Johnson was too hot to handle, pitching the ball up, swinging it at pace and ripping out the immovable England top order. The scramble for padding in the away dressing room echoed the fortunes of their predecessors.

Johnson’s record at the WACA is an impressive 27 wickets at an average of 18. He is a bowler that likes a wicket with some grass on it. If he didn’t come good here then Andrew Hilditch’s predictably irrational selection committee would have had justifiable grounds for putting Johnson out to pasture with his less favoured venues in Melbourne and Sydney on the agenda. It was outstanding fast bowling at a time when he and the team needed it most.

Turmoil, fat ladies singing, Shane Watson as captain and tattooed players were all themes in the Australian press today. An online bookmaker has already committed to paying out on England returning home with the urn. Steve Waugh, the last Australian captain, cast doubt on the future of his successor in the team let alone continuing his run as the most successful Test captain of all time.

Whether this galvanised the Australian team or maybe they couldn’t play any worse but there was fire in their performance in the field. Verbal sparring climaxed with Siddle’s dismissal of Prior eliciting dialogue from the protagonists with Ponting also taking the chance to vent. Today Johnson supplied the actions to support his words. It made for a captivating contest between bat and ball.

Despite the predictable failures for Hughes, Ponting and Clarke some cafeteria bowling from England augmented the Australian lead to 200 by stumps. The talismanic Hussey remains in situ and can put the game beyond England in the morning. Ponting’s series total from six innings is just north of 100 runs but he will have a more comfortable ride tomorrow from his former peers who now reside as fully lunched up members of the Fourth Estate.