Anderson was welcomed out to bat with a sledge from David Warner but only one of them was laughing after the first instalments of a fascinating Test match in Brisbane.

At 35, Anderson returns to these shores as a true elder statesman of the fast bowling fraternity. Given the rigours of his profession, that's an achievement in itself. The hair may have a few more patches of salt and pepper but the quality has far from diminished.

The right-armer remains the best bowler in the world for a reason. Any hopes the Australians may have had that age had wearied him were gone the moment he started zinging the new ball off the seam and past the outside edge.

Anderson gave England something the highly rated Australian trio could not: variety. He was one of the few bowlers able to extract some movement, was able to nibble it off the seam and mixed his pace and length with familiar precision.

He wasn't particularly complimentary about the slow conditions yet handled them as well as anyone. He looked ominous against Handscomb before trapping him in front, while Tim Paine had little chance as Anderson had him nicking the second new ball for 13.

Anderson was superb for England when they won the 2010-11 Ashes, where he rattled off 24 wickets at 26.04. Five years later he remains a constant threat and must be kept fit for the duration of a gruelling series if England are to flourish.

Broad, too, was a handful for the Australians, having a better time with his length and consistency than Josh Hazlewood managed during the English innings.

Broad took care of Cameron Bancroft and the dangerous Shaun Marsh to ensure Australia's lead would be minimal, even if Mitchell Starc was able to rocket one back over his head for a thumping six.

Broad could only shake his head but was celebrating two balls later, Starc spooning one back into his arms to bring his wicket tally to three.

All-rounder Chris Woakes was solid and proved vital as Anderson and Broad were rotated in and out of the attack by Joe Root, who has enjoyed some good days in the field in his first Ashes series in charge.

Moeen Ali didn't have quite the cut through of Nathan Lyon but did the job against Usman Khawaja, a batsman he no doubt hopes will be viewed as a bunny by the end of the series.

He told the BBC he was pleasantly surprised in the amount of spin in a pitch that is slow by Brisbane standards but has produced a nail-biting Test match thus far.

"I thought the first session on the first day there would definitely be a bit of spin," he said. "Lyon bowled very well. I think it's good. There will be a little bit of spin throughout the day. Hopefully there will be some throughout the whole game.

"Hopefully we can get some [second innings] runs because I think it will be harder to get runs."