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BIRMINGHAM: They gave it to Mitchell Johnson at Edgbaston on the first day of this third Ashes Test. The loudest of all English crowds, in full voice as if they were watching their beloved Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion or Birmingham City, they sang their songs with more verve with each lager consumed as Johnson wandered around on the boundary rope.
On Thursday morning it was Johnson, with a devastating display of chin music, who was making all the noise. Whatever the outcome of this match his first over of the second day here will be on the highlight reels at the end of the series.
The short deliveries that climbed into Jonny Bairstow (5) and Ben Stokes (0), flicking their gloves as they reared back could were of such explosiveness there is barely another figure in the game who could have bowled them.
There could also hardly have been a more appropriate way for Johnson to join the exclusive 300 Test wickets club as he did with the ripper that just about cut Bairstow in half. Of Australians, only Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Dennis Lillee and Brett Lee are in that company.
Johnson had, a day earlier, passed 2000 Test runs. Warne is the only other Australian is have completed that double. They applauded Johnson when the milestone was acknowledged on the big screen - not wildly, but with the respect the significant moment deserved.
Australia had been in desperate need of wickets before lunch on Thursday and Johnson, and then a superb Nathan Lyon, answered the call. England lost 4-88 in the first session to be 7-221 at the break, a lead of 85. It was the morning the tourists, rolled for 136 on day one, had to have.
It was no surprise that Johnson was thrust straight into the attack with the recalled Bairstow in the middle and for anyone who witnessed the havoc he wreaked two summers ago in Australia it was probably no surprise that the Yorkshireman faced only one ball from him.
Alastair Cook had said before the match that Bairstow, clueless against Johnson 18 months ago, was now "unrecognisable" from that player, so much had he developed his game in county cricket. Well, he's still got red hair and he still doesn't fancy the short stuff.
In fairness to him, this escalating delivery, banged into the most bowler-friendly pitch of this series, was a beauty. So was the almost identical snorter that, two balls later, brought down Stokes in the same manner, caught by Peter Nevill after a touch of his glove.
Resuming at 3-133 England were all of a sudden 5-142, their ambitions for a monster first-innings lead taking a serious blow.
Game on then? Not if Joe Root had anything to do with it. His 63 kept the hosts chugging along, helped by the fact that Australia's other left-armer, Mitchell Starc, was right off his radar.
It came as shock then when, an hour before lunch, Root threw his own wicket away reaching for another wide one from Starc, who could barely believe his fortune in a session in which he struggled desperately for line and length,
Mitchell Marsh, steaming in at the other end, deserved some of the credit for Root's exit in a way, having built pressure in an impressive spell as Starc lost his way.
Lyon, extracting spin on what had been seaming wicket, then added to his capturing of Ian Bell and Alastair Cook on day one when he had Jos Buttler (9) lbw. Had Buttler reviewed he would have been reprieved but he walked off, as he did when he nicked a ball at Lord's.
At that point Lyon had a wicket in each of his first three overs for the match, and figures of 3-3.
