Australia's No.6 and captain Steve Smith were left with the challenging assignment of resurrecting the Australian first innings on day two of the first Test at the Gabba after the hosts crashed to 4-76.

They proved up to the task, enduring a high-pressure final session and grinding out a patient 89-run partnership that steered Australia out of the danger zone. Smith will resume on 64 and Marsh 44 today with Australia 4-165 in reply to England's total of 302.

There were great expectations on Marsh. The 34-year-old's selection for the first Test had been a hotly debated one given the stance previously taken on batsmen of his vintage and his history of being in and and out of the team.

However, this was the kind of scenario for which an experienced batsman like him, rather than an all-rounder, was chosen; to be a rebuilding force in the middle order and prevent the kind of collapse the Australian line-up have been all too prone to.

The going was by no means easy. Both Marsh and Smith were tied down at length by a well-rounded England attack led by James Anderson. The captain went more than an hour without a boundary and Marsh, after getting off the mark with an eye-catching drive off Anderson through cover, was also forced to grind it out.

It just happened that at the hardest point of the afternoon Glenn Maxwell - who Marsh replaced in the side and who was called in as cover on match eve when he reported a stiff back - was racing towards an unbeaten double century for Victoria at North Sydney Oval. Oblivious to that, of course, Marsh found a way alongside an impregnable Smith.

"I thought the way SOS [Marsh] and Smithy battled there, especially an hour after tea, was probably one of the hardest hours they've faced for a long time," Australian spinner Nathan Lyon said. Marsh's inclusion might have raised eyebrows for many but Lyon was not among them.

"I'm a massive fan of Shaun Marsh," he said. "I'm very good mates with him. The way he batted [for Western Australia] against us in shield cricket a couple of weeks ago really put his name up in lights for me. He looks composed, he looks calm at the wicket. I'm very confident he can come out and hopefully build a big partnership with Smithy. It's going to be challenging - we know England have world-class bowlers - but it's exciting."

Smith, meanwhile, resisted everything an excellent Anderson and co directed at him.

"Steve Smith is an outstanding player and it's our job as bowlers to figure out a way of getting him out," Anderson said. "Because he moves around so much you've almost got to take him out of the equation and bowl it in the right areas. None of our plans have worked so far because he's 64 not out. He's their best player so we've spoken a lot about him."

The match remains evenly poised following a day in which the rest of Australia's top order fell cheaply and England captain Joe Root demonstrated inventive leadership. His decision to introduce Moeen Ali as the first change was bold, and with more options at his disposal than Smith had enjoyed with the ball he rotated his bowlers and set his fields expertly.

Anderson was the standout. You don't take more than 500 Test wickets without being able to out-think a batsman and Anderson did just that to Peter Handscomb (14) with a full and straight delivery that thumped into his pads.

The issues of Usman Khawaja (11) against spin continued when he was trapped in front by Moeen.