Nobody seemed prepared to say it yesterday, least of all two captains who are too long in the tooth and canny to be drawn into silly predictions, but the feeling around Test cricket’s 100th venue seemed unmistakable: England, with a more incisive and more varied bowling attack, have not had a better chance in two decades of beginning an Ashes series with a victory.

The last time that happened was in 1997 at Edgbaston, but the disparity in ability between the teams then was such that any English advantage was swiftly overturned. But times change, as has, more pertinently, the Australia team, and England will walk out in Cardiff this morning confident not only that they can match Australia man for man, but also, in Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, they possess game-changing players of their own.

Ricky Ponting spoke movingly yesterday about what the Ashes mean to him and about how, when his uncle, Greg Campbell, was selected for the 1989 series in England, Ponting went down to his house just to look at and touch Campbell’s Australia kit for that tour. Australian cricket still does symbolism and meaning much better than England.

There is no doubt that the Australia captain remains deeply and impressively committed to the cause, even if he will do well to match the messianic fervour with which he went about his business in 2006-07. But no amount of symbolism or rhetoric can hide the fact that this is a good rather than great Australia team and that, so close to the start of the series, question marks about their constituent parts remain.

Squally showers meant that the pitch was under lock and key before Ponting spoke to the media and so, blind to the surface, he had no option but to say that all options (with the exception of Brett Lee and Shane Watson) remain open. However, in Lee’s absence, uncertainties abound: do they play Nathan Hauritz, who gives the impression that he does not think he should be here, Ben Hilfenhaus, who did so well in South Africa but struggled at Hove, or Andrew McDonald, the all-rounder who has yet to don his match gear on tour?

None has Lee’s star quality, his experience of Ashes contests or his match-winning potential, even though it is unlikely that reverse swing, which plays such a big part in his armoury, will be much in evidence at the SWALEC Stadium. The pitch is an unknown quantity for these players but it does not feel hard, or abrasive, and with the outfield lush and verdant, the bowlers will look to orthodox swing and spin as their main allies this week.

This should suit England. Like Ponting, Andrew Strauss was keeping his cards close to his chest, but this was out of desire rather than uncertainty. The England captain said that he knew his own mind and, despite the weather and the short, straight boundaries that would give the most confident spinner nightmares, he intimated strongly that Monty Panesar would play in a classically balanced five-man attack. This has certainly been the plan from some way out, since the Trinidad Test last winter, when Panesar played Ernie Wise to Graeme Swann’s Eric Morecambe.

When asked about Panesar, Strauss gave a powerful endorsement of the one player in his squad to have really struggled for form this summer. “Panesar is a very good Test-match bowler, as he has proved time and again, even though he has not had a great season so far,” he said. “There is something about being back in the England fold that turns a light on for him. He’s got his unique role in the dressing room and he feels comfortable in the environment. He’s bowled well in the nets, accurately with good bounce and spin, and I think this game will bring out the best in him.”

Barring a last-minute change of plan, or a day of rain, two spinners it will be to complement James Anderson’s swing, Stuart Broad’s line and Flintoff’s pace: as good and as balanced an attack as England have put out in recent years. Ponting, then, will look to England’s batting line-up as the point of weakness, hoping that Ravi Bopara blanches on the biggest stage, that Paul Collingwood’s technique is undermined and that Matt Prior is one too high in the order at No 6.

Like bullion in a recession, Australia’s middle order of Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke and Ponting is a safe haven in times of trouble. Phillip Hughes and Simon Katich, though, represent a riskier investment. Hughes must show the mental strength to quell the doubts that abound after his working-over at Worcester against England Lions, otherwise the decision to pick only one specialist opener will be exposed, while Katich’s returns against England are modest.

Strauss said that his team are well prepared and “chomping at the bit” for the action to start. He expressed confidence that he had the personnel for the battles to come. “All 11 are in good form and are looking very confident to me,” he said. “I like the characters in my team. They will not be easily overawed and they will back themselves. I can feel a great deal of excitement around. They look relaxed and confident in practice and I’ve got a lot of faith in them to deliver.”

When asked to reveal his final message to his team, he declined, saying that he had a couple of thoughts that he wanted to get across but that, with emotions running high enough already, it would not be a time for “Churchillian” speeches.

There is, though, one simple message that he could get across: he could look Alastair Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood, Flintoff, Anderson and Panesar squarely in the eye and ask them whether they remembered how they felt on that beautiful but bleak day in Sydney 2½ years ago.

Do they remember wave upon wave of Australian triumphalism crashing over them? Do they remember the humiliation they felt on becoming part of only the second England team to be whitewashed on Australian soil? Well, do they?