Marcus Harris said "it's about trusting what I do" after going some way to silencing his doubters on day two of the third Ashes Test against England.

The opening batsman went into the contest at the MCG with a best effort of 23 from four innings, but top scored with 76 – the only Australian to make more than 40 in the first innings.

It proved a particularly good knock in the context of a day that saw Australia restricted to 267 having bowled England out for 185 on day one, before dominating the final hour to have the tourists 31-4 and still 51 runs in arrears.

Harris was thrilled to play his part on his home ground and prove a few people wrong in the process.

"It was good to spend a bit of time in the middle today. I had a bit of a battle in the first couple of Tests but it was good to be home and play on a familiar wicket," he told ABC Radio.

"There's a lot of media around but the support I've had from within and my close circle of people has been unbelievable. It's about trusting what I do."

James Anderson had starred with the ball for England, taking 4-33 to give the visitors an opportunity to get back into the game.

But Mitchell Starc (2-11) and Scott Boland (2-1) combined to have Zak Crawley (5), Dawid Malan (0), Haseeb Hameed (7) and nightwatchman Jack Leach (0) dismissed in a devastating final hour, much to the delight of the Melbourne crowd.

Harris added: "The way the wicket is, the amount of grass, there's always something in it for the bowlers.

"Jimmy Anderson bowled unbelievably, as did our bowlers in the end."