The Aussie Angle on the Ashes 2013-14: Mitchell Johnson applied the Bodyline advice to the letter with a burst full of murderous intent

Legendary spinner Shane Warne inspired his devastating figures of 4-61

Australia's Mitchell Johnson celebrates taking the wicket of England's Graeme Swann for 0

Mitchell Johnson was grinning widely as he crossed paths with Australian national selector John Inverarity near the Gabba nets on the eve of the first Test.

“I just put on a clinic in there,” he said.

Johnson did not clarify whether he had been batting or bowling, nor whether he was simply trying to convince the main selector that he deserved a place in the team, but his demeanour was beyond doubt.

If confidence could guarantee success with bat and ball, Johnson should have banked a substantial deposit of Ashes runs and wickets.

Johnson made his bat talk for 64 runs on the first day but he spoke in much greater depth and volume with ball in hand yesterday.

Leading an attack that meshed together as smoothly as an experienced band, Johnson maintained a driving beat that brought him 4-61, devastated England’s top order and foreshadowed a brutal onslaught for the rest of the Ashes series.

Johnson has now reached 50 nine times in Test cricket with eight of them coinciding with match hauls of at least four wickets.

The Barmy Army lapsed into a rare silence as Johnson stormed through England’s barricades in a sign of Australia’s likely strategy on the pace-friendly Tests in Perth and Melbourne.

Jonathan Trott can now anticipate a summer of searing bouncers after stumbling awkwardly against Johnson’s leg-stump onslaught.

It was the fourth time in five meetings that Johnson had claimed him cheaply to suggest a harvest almost as fruitful as the one Stuart Broad anticipates whenever he sees Michael Clarke on the way in.

Obdurate opener Michael Carberry looked more a Test veteran rather than a second-gamer until Johnson came around the wicket and took just three balls to pinpoint the glaring weak point in his defences.

Mitchell Johnson with his team-mates after removing Joe Root for two (GETTY IMAGES)

And Joe Root, whose slide from opener to No.6 suggests England concerns about his capacity against the new ball, did little to dissuade that view with a flat-footed waft that simply provided slips catching practice.

Tailender Graeme Swann was a wicket for fun at the end of the day.

The spinner has enjoyed the occasional Ashes thrash, often providing valuable late runs, but there is no joy in throat balls being delivered at nearly 93mph on a bouncy track and his departure was as inevitable as it was quick.

“Like any good spell, it is always hard to start your innings against a bowling unit that has got their tails up,” Carberry said.

“That was the case with all the guys who came in during that stint before tea.”

Heeding Shane Warne’s advice to implement a modern-day version of Bodyline, Johnson flew the flag for a rebuilt Australian side that has lost three consecutive Ashes series and has lacked the resolve, discipline and steel of the country’s greatest teams.

“Every ball should be short-pitched: Bodyline with intent and pace,” Warne suggested on the eve of the series.”

Johnson applied the advice to the letter with a burst full of murderous intent and genuine bone-rattling pace.

He started England’s demise on the stroke of lunch when his repeated pounding of short balls at Trott’s torso eventually paid off with a feathered leg-side catch.

Trott trudged off with little to like about his 19-ball stay in the middle and England’s failure to better manage the period leading up to the break.

The clock was ticking towards the hour and lunch could have been forced an over earlier if Trott and Carberry had soaked up a few extra seconds in the preceding over.

Instead, he was obliged to face Johnson whose line of attack exposed a gaping hole in a defence once considered almost watertight.

Johnson’s flowing muscular approach not only brought the individual successes but gave oxygen to a Gabba crowd deprived of the sight of wounded and bleeding visiting teams on recent surfaces as bland and benign as any in world cricket.

The Australian supporters were inspired to great voice, not all of it directed at Broad and Kevin Pietersen, while Johnson’s team-mates rallied to follow his example.