Simon Katich's 6 for 65 in
in that match at Sydney is actually the second-best performance by anyone in the first Test in which they bowled, other than their debut. Also
at Sydney, in 1946-47,
Ian Johnson of Australia took 6 for 42 against England in what was his first spell in Test cricket (Katich did bowl seven wicketless overs in the first innings of his match). Although Johnson had primarily been selected as an offspinner, this was actually his
third Test appearance - he hadn't been needed in the first two (at Wellington in 1945-46, and the first Test of 1946-47 at Brisbane) as Australia had won them so easily. No-one else has taken five wickets in an innings in the first match in which they bowled (excluding debuts), but five people did come on and take four. The oddest, I suppose, was the
Hon. Alfred Lyttelton: he was England's wicketkeeper against Australia at
The Oval in 1884, for what turned out to be the last of his four Tests. WG Grace kept wicket while Lyttelton bowled underarm lobs ... and snapped up 4 for 19. The other four-wicket men were Arthur Hill of England (4 for 8 v South Africa, Cape Town, 1895-96, in his third Test), New Zealand's Albert Roberts (4 for 101 v England, Lord's, 1937 - this was his fourth Test, and he suddenly found himself taking the new ball having started his Test career over seven years previously as a No. 3 batsman), Nazir Ali of India (4 for 83 v England, Madras, 1933-34, in his second Test), and the complicated case of Amir Elahi, who took 4 for 134 for Pakistan v India at Delhi in 1952-53, having previously played one Test for India, without bowling, in 1947-48.