Paceman Steve Harmison has already rattled the cages of the Australians regardless of whether he earns a recall from England selectors on Sunday night.
Australia coach Tim Nielsen returned fire at Harmison over comments the England quick made earlier in the four-day tour match at Worcester which petered out to a draw on Saturday.
Harmison has a reputation of being brilliant when on song, as evidenced in 2005, but can be unreliable when the chips are down.
The giant quick returned match figures of 6-135 on a lifeless wicket but is not expecting to hear his name called when England's Test squad is announced on Sunday night.
But it did not stop him from goading the Australians about what he perceived as their lack of confidence compared to their predecessors, and warned opener Phillip Hughes to expect another barrage of short-pitched bowling in Cardiff.
His remarks about Australia's diminished confidence have not gone unnoticed in the tourists' dressing room.
"It's interesting he thinks that," said a terse Nielsen. "We definitely weren't in Test match mode. He's welcome to his opinion."
Nielsen also watered down theories suggesting the diminutive Hughes was susceptible to balls aimed around his ribcage, warning England to bowl short at him at its peril.
Harmison dismissed the 20-year-old opener with short balls in each innings in Worcester, prompting speculation Hughes will face a fiery introduction to Ashes cricket next week.
"The South Africans attempted to bowl at him that way earlier in the year," Nielsen said.
"You have to be pretty precise to bowl that length to him because we've seen how hard he hits the ball through point and how he hits the ball if it's not quite right."
"It's physically taxing to be smashing into the wicket the whole time. To do it for long periods of time is hard work."
"And if you don't have a bit of luck and doesn't punch one up in the air before you know it he could be 40 and we're 0-60 and the pressure's off."
Such was Harmison's reputation for inconsistency - his opening balls of the past two Ashes battles have defined the series - Nielsen was not sure whether the paceman's presence in Cardiff would be a worry or a bonus for his side.
"He's a quality bowler but over time that's why he's been talked about in the vein that he is; his consistency might not have been as good as it could have been," he said.
"I noticed in the paper after the first day he was pretty keen to let us know what he thought."
"The game soldiered along and he did a decent job. Test match cricket goes for five days and you've got to be able to do it from ball one to ball two-and-a-half thousand."