Glenn McGrath settled back into his usual Lord's routine to secure his place in cricket's hall of fame and ruin England's fine start to the first Test on Thursday.

The 35-year-old Australia seamer has repeatedly confounded the critics in recent years, firstly after an ankle operation and now as one of the senior citizens in international cricket.

Just this week his ability to withstand five Tests in seven weeks was questioned with England seamer Matthew Hoggard saying: "It will be tough on the body and it will be interesting to see if he is still the world-class bowler he was."

But McGrath answered Hoggard's doubts emphatically to become only the fourth bowler in history to claim 500 Test victims and spearhead a stunning fightback after England seemed to have claimed the early Ashes initiative.

Dismissed for a lowly 190 after deciding to bat first, Australia's long-standing dominance over England appeared forgotten following a breathtaking display of hostility from fast bowler Steve Harmison.

But just as England looked to establish a sizeable first-innings advantage, McGrath came into his own with a magnificent spell of five wickets for two runs in 31 balls to leave his fiercest rivals reeling on 21 for five.

England at least showed some of the battling qualities which have served them so well over the last two years of success with debutant Kevin Pietersen teaming up with wicketkeeper Geraint Jones in a determined 58-run stand.

By the time stumps were drawn in front of a capacity Lord's crowd, however, McGrath and Australia had more than made their point on a first day wicket already showing signs of uneven bounce. England were struggling on 92 for seven at the close, 98 behind.

McGrath had entered this eagerly-awaited series needing only one wicket to follow Courtney Walsh, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan past the 500-mark. He reached the hallowed landmark with the first ball after tea, slanting the ball across Marcus Trescothick for Justin Langer to take the edge at third slip.

Four balls later McGrath's spell had begun to take hold with Andrew Strauss, his team-mate at Middlesex for a few weeks last summer, pushing forward and edging low to Warne at first slip.

With Brett Lee providing both accuracy and hostility from the other end, there was no relief for either Michael Vaughan or Ian Bell as they attempted to rebuild the innings.

Their partnership was broken six overs later with a full-length delivery from McGrath keeping low to take the England captain's off-stump.

Bell followed in McGrath's next over, chopping onto his stumps off the front foot, bringing together the exciting talents of all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and Pietersen - although at 19 for four it was probably not the situation they had envisaged.

Their partnership was brief with Flintoff playing all around another McGrath delivery which kept low.

His wicket gave McGrath his third five-wicket haul in as many Test appearances at headquarters following his eight for 38 in 1997 and five for 54 four years ago.

When McGrath was finally taken off after a marathon 10-over stint from the Pavilion End, he had proved his point to Hoggard and anyone else who had doubted his enduring talent.

Without McGrath to combat, wicketkeeper Jones was able to dominate a determined sixth-wicket stand with Pietersen which almost threatened to take England to respectability before the close.

But with the close of an compelling day just two overs away, Jones' 84 minutes of defiance were ended by a brute of a short ball from Lee which he could only fend behind for Adam Gilchrist to take the catch.

Ashley Giles followed in the final over of the day to leave Pietersen unbeaten on 28 after nearly two hours at the crease.

England's despair at the close was in stark contrast to their earlier display when they attempted to set the tone for the series with an aggressive performance with the ball.

Harmison, bristling with aggressive intent, hit Justin Langer on the elbow with the second ball of the day and went on to hit Matthew Hayden on the helmet and rapped Ricky Ponting on the grille to literally draw first blood.

His aggression prompted Australia's batsmen to play a succession of ill-conceived shots, prompting the loss of three wickets for 11 runs in 15 balls and leave them reeling on 97 for five at lunch.

Even Gilchrist could not reign in his attacking nature and edged Flintoff behind shortly after lunch to prompt a frenzied celebration from an England side who believed they had the measure of Australia.

Shane Warne provided an entertaining 28 from 29 balls, but became the first of four victims for Harmison off 14 balls which ended the innings in spectacular fashion and earned the Durham fast bowler impressive figures of five for 43.

The dust from Harmison's spectacular display had barely settled when England resumed their innings at tea on 10 without loss, only to be quickly overshadowed by an ageing seamer with a point to prove.