Rory Burns narrowly avoids the second duck when England begins the Brisbane chase

Rory Burns got desperately close to a second duck of the game when England began the mammoth task of fighting their way back in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane.

Australia were eventually knocked out for 425 on the third morning, a handsome 278 lead, and all eyes were on Burns after he sacked his stump on the series' first ball.

He started England's second innings at the end of the non-striker, an obvious admission of nerves since he started the innings in all but two of his previous 54 strokes in Test cricket but was soon under the pump.

The left-hander still had no goal when he shuffled over the stumps to his third ball and was pinned in the front by Starc, whose loud lbw calls were maintained. After a brief discussion with partner Haseeb Hameed, Burns called DRS and was relieved when ball tracking showed the delivery was just over the top.

England reached lunch on the 23rd without losing eight overs, Burns fought their way through at 13 and Hameed made 10no.

Australia could cause some nervousness, Burns almost distracted Josh Hazlewood into his stumps and came close to jumping Pat Cummins' Short Ball Trap on a misaligned pull that crept past the square-legged man. Hameed also had a shock when he cracked Hazlewood just before the cordon, but hopes of a significant first wicket stand were still alive by the break.

The hosts had added 82 to their overnight score, increased the English deficit with every shot on goal and kept a tired bowling session on the field much longer than they had hoped.

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Centurion Travis Head was responsible for 40 of those runs, picking up where it left off on the second night with a series of lighthearted punches to finish on 152. One particularly caught the eye when he saw Ben Stokes' second delivery back across the ground for a sweet six.

It was the kind of "alpha" move Stokes himself is known for and would have stabbed the all-rounder who wasn't expected to bowling again after being treated overnight for a knee injury.

Head also brought out his 150 in style, beating Jack Leach when the spinner coughed his 100th run from just 73 balls. Head coach Justin Langer admitted in a pre-game television interview that there had been a premeditated decision to go after the Somerset and Australian man when Leach ended up on a twitching economy rate of 7.84.

It took England 55 minutes to take their first wicket of the morning. Chris Woakes was relieved when Starc picked Burns in depth after being chipped in 35 practical runs. Mark Wood then picked up some belated but well-deserved rewards when he knocked out Nathan Lyon and smashed the base of Heads stumps to end the innings in the 105th over.