In marked contrast to his union representative's questions about the logic of an extra tournament at the start of one of Australia's busiest summers, Ricky Ponting is flushed with enthusiasm about resumption of active service.

Australian Cricketers' Association chief executive Paul Marsh appeared in print to argue, not for the first time, that the national side was at risk of injuries due to fatigue from an excess of matches.

However Ponting pushed onto the front foot when asked if it had been difficult to find motivation for a low key limited overs series at a diminutive, neutral venue - the floodlit Kinrara Oval.

"It certainly won't be hard for us to get geed up, we've had a good, long break with three months off cricket, so all the guys are keen to get back playing again," he said.

"It doesn't matter what the venue is."

Everyone in the Australian set-up, from Ponting to selection chairman Andrew Hilditch, has pointed to their failure to ever win an ICC Champions Trophy as a pertinent reason to move into stride by playing in KL.

The length of the team's two training sessions - nearly three hours each in considerable heat and humidity - was a decent indicator of high Australian energy levels.

"It's looking pretty good to tell you the truth, it has been a couple of really solid days ... over the past couple of weeks we worked really hard, starting with the boot camp and then up to Brisbane," Ponting said.

"We're not expecting to go into the first game and set the world on fire, we've got to work our way into this series, but I still expect us to play some pretty good cricket early on."

All Australian eyes will be on the fortunes of Glenn McGrath in his first match after compassionate leave that ultimately spanned seven months.

"We're all looking forward to seeing Glenn play again, he's really keen to get involved as well, he's been working extremely hard to get himself right for this series as a build-up to the Champions Trophy," Ponting said.

"I've got the highest expectations of Glenn coming back and have every reason to have (them), he's been such a great bowler for such a long period that he'll just slot in nicely."

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