Steven Finn continued his steep learning curve in front of 35,000 partisan supporters as England and Australia cranked up their Ashes battle at the Gabba.

England’s 21-year-old international novice fast bowler was in the thick of the action too during a titanic half-hour after lunch when the first Test lurched England’s way today.

It proved a temporary surge which helped the tourists take four wickets for 72 runs in the middle session.

A rain-shortened day two of the series ended marginally in favour of Australia in the Gabba cauldron, thanks to back-to-form veteran Michael Hussey’s unbeaten 81 in an unbroken stand of 77 with Brad Haddin.

The hosts closed on 220-5, in reply to England’s apparently under-par 260 all out.

Hussey needed to be at his resourceful best, unfurling a succession of merciless pulls in his 144-ball stay so far, to defy England’s resurgent bowlers.

Among them, James Anderson was the pick in an outstanding spell of 11-6-18-2 from the Stanley Street end either side of lunch.

Finn was sufficiently self aware to acknowledge others led the way, and that he needs to learn from them.

“I thought the other bowlers bowled fantastically well,” said Finn, who almost had Hussey first ball – the edge dropped just short of Graeme Swann at second slip – and finished with 2-61.

The 6ft 8in seamer’s first wicket came via an athletic caught-and-bowled down by his boots to see off limpet opener Simon Katich for a painstaking 50.

“Wickets give you confidence,” he added. “But there are still areas of my bowling that obviously I need to work on, having been hit for a few fours today, and it’s something I’m looking to improve every time I bowl.”

The phlegmatic demeanour of Finn is at odds with his trade, but is an evident asset for a cricketer plunged into the Ashes after just eight Tests in less than a year.

“It’s just another game of cricket,” he believes.

“It’s what you build it up to be in your head, and it was important I didn’t build it up to be too big.

“That would have been detrimental to my performance. I’m used to playing (county) championship cricket in front of 20 people.

“But to have so many people watching has been fantastic. I’m loving it at the moment. A few times today, it didn’t quite go to plan. But I’m young and I’m learning all the time.”

By DAVID CLOUGH