Jonathon Agnew reports for Radio 5 Live

Rocked by the withdrawals of captain Alec Stewart and predecessor Michael Atherton through injury, England made a buoyant start under Nasser Hussain's leadership.

Western Australian openers Ryan Campbell and Mike Hussey were dismissed inside the opening three overs of their four-day match at the WACA.

Mark Ramprakash practises in the nets before first game

But the success proved a false dawn as Katich went on to score 106 and Langer 85 before both were dismissed by Darren Gough.

Their stand helped the home side reach a total of 265-6.

Langer who scored 1,800 runs last summer for Middlesex, forged a 145-run partnership with Katich as Western Australia reached 171 for three off 64 overs.

Langer displayed few signs of jetlag having returned home just 48 hours earlier following Australia's first Test series victory in Pakistan for 39 years.

He looked in confident form virtually from the outset despite arriving at the crease with the hosts struggling on four for two.

The early breakthroughs lifted the tourists' spirits following the shock withdrawals of their two most senior players.

Stewart failed to shrug off the stiff back that affected him during England's one-run victory over an ACB Chairman's XI at Lilac Hill on Thursday while Atherton received a painful blow on his right hip in the same match.

Darren Gough warms up for battle

But Gough quickly lifted England's morale by trapping Campbell lbw off the 12th delivery of the day and Alan Mullally had Hussey caught by Graham Thorpe at first slip off the next ball.

From that position of strength, England slowly but surely wilted on a pitch that gave little encouragement as Langer compiled runs at a steady rate to reach his half-century just after lunch, including five boundaries.

He gave two chances, being dropped by Hussain at slip on 51 off Dominic Cork and on 79 when Mark Butcher failed to hold a difficult chance at short mid-wicket after Langer had pulled Gough.

But just as it seemed that Langer would progress to three figures, he mistimed a pull and gave an easy return catch to Gough, having hit 11 boundaries in his superb 85.

Katich progressed on to 106 in 332 minutes, off 244 balls, hitting 12 fours, before being dismissed lbw.

Western Australia v England

Western Australia 1st innings:

Hussey c Thorpe b Mullally 3
Campbell lbw b Gough 1
Langer c & b Gough 85
Katich lbw 106
Dighton c Cork b Mullally 23
Rogers c Hegg b Ramprakash 14
Harvey not out 7
Nicholson not out 16

Extras 10

Total (for 6 wkts, 90 overs) 265

Teams

Western Australia: J L Langer (Capt), S M Katich, S R Cary, R J Campbell (Wkt), M G Dighton, K M Harvey, M E Hussey, S Jurgensen, M Nicholson, B J Oldroyd, C Rogers.

England: M A Butcher, J P Crawley, N Hussain (Capt), G P Thorpe, M R Ramprakash, W K Hegg (Wkt), D G Cork, R D B Croft, D Gough, A R C Fraser, A D Mullally.