AFTER waiting almost eight years to make the progression from England squad member to Test player, Richard Johnson took just 62 minutes yesterday to write his name into Riverside folklore.

Aided by a hopeless Zimbabwean batting display on a placid Chester-le-Street pitch, Johnson was richly rewarded for sticking to the basic bowling principles of line and length.

A bright and breezy 24 from just 14 deliveries was the precursor to a devastating spell with the ball that reduced Zimbabwe - beaten by an innings at Lord's a fortnight ago - to 35 for seven.

Having taken five wickets in just over an hour, Johnson ended with the stunning figures of 12-4-33-6 as the tourists were skittled for a meagre 94 in 135 minutes of cricketing carnage at Durham.

Johnson, 28, was first chosen by England for the tour of South Africa in 1995-96, only to pull out with a stress fracture of the back.

He was then named in the squad for three Ashes Tests two years ago but did not win a cap, and he was on the periphery on the 2001 tour of India.

But after recovering from a groin injury that precluded his inclusion in the team for the first Test with Zimbabwe, yesterday was Johnson's day.

Surely the adage "everything comes to he who waits" can never have been so apposite.

Seven Zimbabwean batsmen were given out lbw; five of those were victims of Johnson, who capitalised on their tendency to plant their front foot down the line of the ball.

The Somerset paceman was on a hat-trick after just four deliveries in Test cricket, having trapped Mark Vermeulen and Stuart Carlisle with successive balls.

That destructive first over was the perfect response to the critics that had called on Nasser Hussain to allow Steve Harmison to open the bowling on his home ground.

And after James Anderson removed Dion Ebrahim and Grant Flower, Johnson completed his amazing five-wicket haul.

He produced a superb delivery to dismiss Sean Ervine, the left-hander edging a ball slanted across his bows to Alec Stewart.

Travis Friend became the next Zimbabwean to contribute hugely to his own downfall, and the fourth to depart for a duck, when he was plumb in front.

And when Heath Streak survived a loud lbw appeal, only to be dismissed next ball, Johnson had his 16th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.

By making Tatenda Taibu his sixth victim, Johnson found himself behind only John Lever, Alec Bedser and Jim Laker in the list of the best first-innings bowling figures by an England Test debutant.

The sad postscript to Johnson's six of the best was that he filled his bowling boots against such woeful opposition.

This batting display underlined just how weakened the Zimbabwe team has been by retirements and controversial selection decisions as the fallout from the reign of President Robert Mugabe has hit cricket in the crisis-torn country.

The presence of Andy Flower and Craig Wishart, to name but two, would have given the line-up a much more sturdy look.

And the fact that Johnson, a renowned county swing bowler, struggled to move the ball through the air summed up Zimbabwe's ineptness.

Only Ebrahim, who was dismissed leg before by Anderson, could claim to have been sawn off by trigger-happy umpire Dave Orchard.

The ball that dismissed him seemed to have been going over the stumps, but his teammates had no excuses.

Theirs was a pathetic effort, and of the frontline batsmen only Taibu showed any application whatsoever as he made a composed 31 until he fell trying to work a straight ball through the onside.

At 48 for eight, Zimbabwe were staring at the distinct possibility of recording the lowest Test total in their history - worse than the 63 they managed against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 1999-2000.

But Taibu and No 10 Raymond Price launched a brief counter-attack to lift them above that score before Johnson and Durham's Steve Harmison wrapped up the innings.

England enforced the follow-on, and Vermeulen guaranteed himself a place in cricket's Hall of Shame when he bagged a pair in two hours, 42 minutes, falling to Anderson in Zimbabwe's first over after they followed on.

Thereafter, Ebrahim and Carlise dug in, and they will resume this morning with Zimbabwe 41 for one in their second innings, still a massive 281 runs behind England with three possible days' play remaining.

Only bad weather, or a remarkable show of Zimbabwean defiance, will prevent England completing a 2-0 series whitewash today.

Certainly, such a prospect did not seem particularly likely when England were made to toil by accurate bowling from Streak and Price in the first hour of play yesterday.

Stewart was dismissed when only seven runs had been added to England's overnight total of 298 for five, and England's tail looked worryingly long as Ashley Giles marched to the crease at number eight.

Just 20 runs were scored in the opening 16 overs, but after Anthony McGrath departed for 81, England took the game away from Zimbabwe again.

The catalyst for their return to a position of supremacy was Johnson, who hit a six and four fours in his entertaining cameo that breathed new life into England's innings.

Johnson drove his first ball to the backward point boundary, and struck a four and six to mid-wicket in quick succession off Price.

When Zimbabwe moved a fielder to that position, Johnson stroked the next ball through extra cover for four; he could do little wrong yesterday.

When he fell on his dashing blade, having attempted one bold shot too many, Giles was ably assisted by Harmison as they edged England closer to 400.

The hosts' last three wickets were worth 92, and Giles brought up second successive Test 50 before being last man out.

After improving on their shabby bowling display at Lord's, one expected Zimbabwe to put up stiffer resistance with the bat. That illusion was shattered in a clatter of wickets. For them, this Test series cannot finish quickly enough.