Monty Panesar's arrival on an Ashes stage and Steve Harmison's return in a familiar role lent England renewed credibility on the first day of the third cricket Test against Australia.
Panesar took five for 92 on his Ashes debut Thursday and Harmison snared 4-48 as England dismissed Australia for 244 in 71 overs, after Australian captain Ricky Ponting had won the toss and confidently batted.
The belief that the five-match Ashes series would be decided in Perth, widely expressed as Australia approached the match with a 2-0 lead, became less accepted by stumps as Panesar and Harmison made England freshly competitive.
Some of the advantage they gave England dissipated as the tourists slipped to 51 for two by stumps, losing Alastair Cook (15) and Ian Bell (0), before Andrew Strauss (24 not out) and Paul Collingwood (10 not out), staunched the flow of wickets in the last half hour.
Harmison delivered two of the day's decisive blows, trapping Ponting lbw for two and dismissing Michael Clarke for 37, just as Clarke settled into an important fourth-wicket partnership with Michael Hussey.
Ponting's dismissal ended his run of high scores in the series: his 196 and 60 not out in Brisbane and 142 and 49 in Adelaide which helped ensure Australia's wins by 277 runs and six wickets.
Hussey and Clarke put on 52 for Australia's fourth wicket and there was an indication, as Hussey went on to the innings' top score of 74 not out, that their partnership might have steered the match away from England had Harmison not struck.
But it was Panesar, making the best of a little first-day turn, who worked his way through the Australian order and earned a minor place in Ashes history. He won that place not least for the exuberance of his wicket celebrations.
When he bowled Justin Langer for 37 with only his seventh ball, he set off on a victory run among his teammates, exchanging embraces and high fives, which was lavish, extended and sincere.
Anything Panesar achieved Thursday was made more extraordinary by the huge burden of expectation on him when the day began.
Calls for his addition to the England team had become so vociferous after his controversial omission from the second Test at Adelaide that England's tour selectors Andrew Flintoff and Duncan Fletcher could no longer reasonably stand against them.
The stage was set for Panesar to fail, for Flintoff and Fletcher to say 'we told you so'; instead, the left-armer rose to the occasion.
``I guess it's flattering people want me to play. But for me, I cannot let other things effect me,'' Panesar said. ``Like I said, I trust the selectors' judgment. I trust them whenever they think it's right for me to play, and thankfully today they picked me and thankfully I got a few wickets as well.''
After Langer, he removed Andrew Symonds for 26, Shane Warne for 25, Brett Lee for 10 and Adam Gilchrist without scoring. He enjoyed especially his personal victory over Symonds, who hit two sixes and a four off his 13th over but was caught behind, cutting loosely, only one over later.
Panesar might also have appreciated the wicket of Warne who was the spinner most in focus in the leadup to the match: poised to become the first player in history to take 700 Test wickets.
Warne's quest for the six wickets he needs to reach that mark will likely begin in earnest Friday, on a second-day pitch favouring him with turn and bounce. Warne only bowled two overs on the opening day and dropped a catch off Collingwood in the 11th over.
Harmison's contribution to England was no less significant than Panesar's. The tall fast bowler was separately ridicule after his wayward performances in the first two Tests but he returned Thursday to take a place of importance in the England attack.
He may no longer take the new ball but, in receptive conditions on a hard and bouncy wicket, he showed he can still bowl with purpose and control. He beat Ponting for pace and he held, after juggling, a difficult return catch to cut off Clarke when he was becoming dangerous.
