Hosts England will be keen to start the ICC Champions Trophy on the front foot, but it will be far from easy as they face old foes Australia in what promises to be a cracking match at Edgbaston.
Neither team were impressive in the one-day format in the lead up to the tournament, with England suffering a 2-1 series defeat at the hands of New Zealand and Australia capitulating against India in a warm-up match.
However, when it comes to the actual tournament, both teams will be formidable and with Sri Lanka and New Zealand the other sides in the group, both will be keen to get off to a winning start.
"It is my first one. I'm really looking forward to the challenges of being in a world tournament," England skipper Alastair Cook said. "You get into a series, and you get to play against the same team three or five times.
"So this is very different in terms of having to play against a different team every day or every game you play and having to adjust your skills to the certain players straightaway. And you have to start pretty quickly in this tournament otherwise, you have three games to get to the group, you have to win definitely two of them.
"So it's going to be a tough tournament that way, but I think it's a great tournament because it's so quick."
Australia, who are gunning for their third Champions Trophy title, have been dealt a major blow with captain and their best batsman Michael Clarke ruled out of the first match because of a back injury and stand-in captain George Bailey acknowledged it would be difficult without their inspirational skipper.
"There's no doubt it's a blow," he said. "We'd love to have Pup with us as a batsman and as our captain. But it is what it is, and we have to deal with the fact that we don't have him for tomorrow (Saturday).
"The challenge is there and the opportunity is there for the rest of us to step up, and I know it will be a great boost to the side to know that we can win without him. We had to do it quite a bit over the summer in the one-day format, so we know we can."
Australia were bundled out for 65 by India in a practise match earlier, and without Clarke the batting does look vulnerable. However, Cook believes the Aussies do have the capabilities to cope with the loss of their captain.
"Obviously, when you lose a player of that stature and that quality, obviously, it would be a loss to them," he said. "But they've obviously got a good squad and obviously some fine replacements, so I don't think it's not all doom and gloom for them, but losing your captain is tough."
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