The Ashes: England fightback against Australia 'vital' in context of series

The venue is The Gabba, in Brisbane.

The highlights show is on the iPlayer from 17h00 and ball-by-ball commentary on Test Match Special is on the website and app.

The fightback in the first Test was vital to show that England can compete in the series, says Dawid Malan.

England were dismissed for 147 in the firstinnings and then were dismissed for 220 in the thirdinnings, but Malan and Joe Root both made half centuries.

The job is not yet done, but what we did was fantastic.

It's about scoring a big 100 which will change the game.

The England team is giving hope at the Gabba.

England made a slow start to their reply, with both Burns and Hameed caught behind off Cummins and Starc trapping them in front.

With a new ball available to Australia 11 overs into the fourth day, Malan is remaining cautious.

He said that Australia is so brilliant at closing the door that it's as soon as we think too far ahead.

The first hour will be important and we can think about how well we can play.

We need a good 100 run partnership to put a good score on the board.

I thought I would never play another Test again.

In his 18th Test for England, Malan is playing in his first red-ball match since last summer's home series against India.

He thought he wouldn't play another Test.

When I was younger, I told Root that I missed the Barmy Army singing.

I missed someone trying to blow my head off, the crowd was playing against the best bowlers.

The record of most Test runs scored by an Englishman in a calendar year by the skipper in 2021 speaks for itself, according to Malan.

With 1,541 runs, Root has moved past Michael Vaughan's mark of 1,461, and is on the verge of his seventh century of the year and a first in Australia.

"Batting with Joe is great," he says. He puts the pressure back on the bowler by always looking to score.

It's great to see that Joe is leading from the front for us.