England's belated decision to play bold cricket breathed new life into the Ashes series after Monty Panesar spun the third Test the tourists' way at the WACA Ground.

Panesar made a mockery of England's previous conservative selections when, given the chance to twiddle his spinning finger instead of his thumbs, he took 5-92 on Ashes debut to help bowl Australia out for 244.

Aided by reinvigorated fast bowler Steve Harmison, Panesar gave life to the tourists' dreams of fighting back from 2-0 down and retaining cricket's most prized trophy.

However Australia's bowlers also sprang to life late in the day to inspire a home side fightback on easily the most absorbing day of the series.

England was 2-51 at stumps.

England's batsmen can expect the wicket to flatten and slow over what should be four more cracking days, but on the hostility Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee showed, the tourists will have to bat superbly to forge a lead of any note.

McGrath halted a quickfire England start with the removal of Alastair Cook (15) before Lee had Ian Bell caught behind for a second-ball duck, although television replays showed the speedster overstepped.

England will be desperate to build a big lead and avoid a repeat of the last day of the second Test in Adelaide, when its batsmen were mesmerised by Australia's bowlers and succumbed to the pressure.

Panesar at least brought much-needed positivity to England's cause with a display of class, occasion and resilience after he got the nod over Ashley Giles following two Tests on the sidelines.

Panesar bowled a dumbfounded Justin Langer - leaving the ball with an angled bat - with his seventh ball and then won the battle against Andrew Symonds' attempts to hit him out of the attack, when he had the allrounder (26) caught behind cutting at a wide ball.

The Sikh spinner admitted to nerves in his first Ashes Test, but rated his performance the equal of his eight-wicket haul against Pakistan at Old Trafford earlier this year.

"Taking five wickets on a day one pitch is up there as one of my best days," he said.

Panesar has been well aware of the chorus of calls for his inclusion and was grateful for his long-awaited chance.

"I guess it's flattering people want me to play back home but I can't let it affect me," he said.

"I trust the selectors' judgement there and thankfully today they picked me and I got some wickets."

Panesar became the first bowler since England's Alan Mullally eight years ago to take five wickets on his Ashes debut and only the third left-arm finger spinner to claim a big haul at the WACA Ground.

India's Bishan Bedi took 11 wickets in 1977-78 and New Zealand's Daniel Vettori claimed 6-87 five years ago.

England's other inspiration came from Harmison, who retained his place after a return of 1-288 in the first two Tests and bounced back with 4-48.

Harmison had Australian captain Ricky Ponting LBW for two and then in the second session, cut short Michael Clarke's stylish innings of 37 by latching on to a flat-batted pull to complete a remarkable return catch.

The responsibility of saving Australia's innings again fell to Mike Hussey, who seamlessly took over No.4 after Damien Martyn's retirement and made 74 not out.

England's new-found spirit was reflected in the way Harmison and Panesar wildly celebrated scalps after difficult tours and the way their teammates mobbed them in delight.

Panesar and Harmison took 19 wickets between them against Pakistan in Manchester and the spinner was delighted to be renewed with the big quick.

"He does help me, when we bowl in tandem together," he said.

"It reminded me of that Old Trafford Test match, when we were both taking wickets and it was fantastic to see Steve Harmison is back."

However after two late wickets, England was spared another big blow when Paul Collingwood (10 not out) was dropped by Shane Warne at slip, moving to his left, in Stuart Clark's first over.

Hussey, who has now scored four half-centuries this series, expected the wicket to flatten, dry and slow over the next four days and said it was crucial Australia struck early on day two.

"If we can get some early wickets tomorrow and get into that middle order, it looks like quite a long tail there," he said.

"It would have been nice to get that last one (Collingwood) as well ... we were pretty pumped up but the bowlers were really controlled."

The great day's cricket was observed by a crowd of 24,268 - the record for a Test day at the WACA Ground - which had only 20 fans ejected.

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