All wickets: Australia 264 5 after day two – Ashes first Test

Moeen was adding those important successes to his 77 runs, as Australia replied to England’s 430 all out with 264 for five on the back of a record-equalling seventh consecutive half-century from Chris Rogers (95).

Australia needed the innings of his career; instead they got one that typified it.

Anderson produced an immaculate spell that brought him four successive maiden overs and thus helped Moeen, who had already dismissed Steve Smith, to take the valuable wicket of Michael Clarke. Stuart Broad was the nightwatchman and yet to score.

Apart from the wickets of David Warner and Smith, England’s only light moment of the middle session came in the shape of Joe Root’s amusement at Cook’s transient plight – before he had to take over the captaincy for a time, to little avail.

And with the pitch continuing to look two-paced, he knows there is plenty of work ahead for Australia on day three and beyond. The sun shone all day and the strip looked a lighter shade of brown, an indication that some of the moisture had evaporated.

It was left to Anderson to finish the innings with another outswinger that was too good for Starc.

Replays indicated Voges had grassed the ball and the batsman was recalled.

“But if you are positive and going at it some times you are going to get out these ways”.

Starc and Josh Hazlewood were the pick of the bowlers for Australia as both claimed three wickets each.

Still, nothing was going right for Johnson – who ended up with his worst Test figures of nought for 111 and was rewarded with his share of “interaction” from the partisan crowd.

For Moeen, it was a third Test fifty to go with his one century, but he insisted a starring role in his inaugural Ashes Test would not rank as his career highlight to date as he proved undaunted by the series’ rich history.

With their talisman struggling, Australia were indebted to Starc, who found late swing to have Root caught at slip and Stokes clean bowled in the final session.

There were decidedly mixed signals from the pitch in the opening exchanges, two balls in Starc’s first over trickling through on the second bounce to the wicketkeeper and then – after two maidens from one left-armer with the new ball, his surprisingly early replacement Johnson getting alarming lift to hit Ballance on the chest.

After winning the toss, England’s captain Alastair Cook made a decision to bat first as he observed the overcast conditions.

Brooks is in no doubt the leg-spinner should make his debut. The ball comes to him the size of a balloon, and he’s blowing it around to all parts. An ungainly Smith, trying to avoid being stumped after Ali spotted his charge, got a leading edge and Cook, belying his reputation for cautious captaincy, held a catch having stationed himself in an unusual short mid-on position. Modern bats can be the curse of bowlers but Bradman’s edge would never have carried the ball as far.