The antipodean rivals meet in a Champions Trophy clash at the Oval today to decide which side progresses to the semifinals from Group A.

European rain and damp conditions have denied the Australians much match practice leading into the tournament, with a tour of the Netherlands hit and a match against Hampshire washed out, but Ponting insisted his side were ready for their first serious test of the tournament.

“Everybody is ready, everybody is raring to go,” Ponting said at the team’s base in central London. “They should be as well, because even though we have been denied match play we have trained really hard.

“We are very well prepared and the games we have managed to play, our skills have looked very sharp.” Ponting bemoaned his side’s bad luck with the weather so far.

“The rain’s followed us around,” he smiled. “We had a game against Hampshire which was washed out last week. Our trip to Holland, we had one-and-a-half games instead of three.