England took the honours of the opening day of the third Ashes Test - with cult hero Monty Panesar becoming the first English spinner to claim five wickets in an innings at the WACA.

Panesar added a new dimension to a bowling attack that had been stale and ineffective for most of the first two Test matches, ripping through the Australian line to claim 5-92 after Ricky Ponting had elected to bat on a good bowling wicket. The Aussies were dismissed in their first innings for 244 - but England then made a shaky start in their reply, reaching 51 for two at stumps.

England’s selectors finally bowed to logic and the wishes of fans in both countries by replacing the placid, defensive spin of Ashley Giles with the more aggressive Panesar, a decision that took less than a day to prove justified.

The Northants spinner bowled with real zip, extracting good bounce and some turn off a Perth wicket that had an unfamiliar green tinge to it. Panesar, who was supported by his captain Andrew Flintoff with the setting of attacking fields, helped change the complexion of the game almost from the moment he arrived at the crease. He claimed the scalp of Justin Langer with his seventh ball - an incredible delivery that spun through the defences of the hometown hero to leave the Aussies struggling at 69 for three at lunch.

Apart from one over when Andrew Symonds smashed him for 17 runs, Panesar managed to contain the Australian scoring by bowling an intelligent attacking length with the intention of taking wickets, instead of just trying to clamp down on the runs.



England coach Duncan Fletcher and his fellow selectors had insisted in recent weeks that Giles, who had barely played any cricket in the past 18 months due to injury, was the best spin option in the squad, a claim that sparked almost unanimous disagreement from fans and commentators alike. By the time he had claimed his fifth scalp in Brett Lee, Panesar had left no doubt which of the two would be able to retain the Ashes for England - making the decision to play Giles in Brisbane and Adelaide appear more mind-boggling and downright wrong than ever.