Australian captain Ricky Ponting has forecast an "explosive" battle between paceman Brett Lee and England skipper Andrew Flintoff in Saturday's vital Champions Trophy match in Jaipur.
Both sides have started the tournament badly, with Australia going down to West Indies by 10 runs in Mumbai and England beaten by India in Jaipur.
Australia is now in a desperate situation, seeking wins over England and India (October 29) in a bid to reach next month's semi-finals.
But with the Ashes series kicking off on November 23 in Brisbane, Australia is also keen to land a psychological blow on England, particularly big "Freddie".
"I think Brett's already made it pretty clear that he wants to almost target Freddie," Ponting said.
"The disappointing thing for us in the last Ashes series is we basically couldn't use Brett the way we wanted to use him.
"Glenn (McGrath) wasn't there and the other guys probably weren't at their best form. Brett was having to bowl longer, more sustained spells, which is not what he's used to doing and not what he's best at.
"He's best off coming on and bowling three, four, five-over spells in both forms of the game. If he can do that and be explosive then he's going to cause all batsmen problems."
Flintoff, who is unlikely to bowl on Saturday because of an ankle injury, made a duck at No.3 on Tuesday as England stumbled to 125 all out in a four-wicket loss to India.
"There's still a bit of time before the Ashes, and knowing the sort of bloke he is he'll give himself every chance to be right (to bowl)," said Ponting.
"I don't think he'll be putting himself in any jeopardy for the Ashes."
But Flintoff's determination to play a major batting role by pushing himself up the order may play into Australia's hands, in a move that has surprised Ponting.
"I am a little bit (surprised). I think there's other guys in that side who could bat up there to tell you the truth," Ponting said.
"The earlier we can get those guys in, the better it is for us, particularly in these conditions.
"We've seen how dangerous (Kevin) Pietersen and Flintoff, the big power hitters, can be late in the innings over here.
"It actually gives us a chance to get him out earlier on. Obviously it's a decision they've made and they think it's the best one for their side. Hopefully it's not."
Ponting scoffed at England coach Duncan Fletcher's observation that England gained enormous confidence from beating Australia in the 2004 Champions Trophy semi-final ahead of the 2005 Ashes series.
"Yeah well he probably said that because they won that game. I'm not sure how important it would've been if they'd lost that game - those things don't seem to come up then, do they?" Ponting said.
Australia is considering dropping spinner Brad Hogg for left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson, although Johnson didn't train on Friday because of an upset stomach.
"Whenever we have come across dewy conditions before it's heavily weighted in favour of the side batting second," Ponting said.
"For that reason, myself and the coach (John Buchanan) will go down the ground late tonight even though it has rained today, have a look with the lights on and get a feel for how the dew is going to be.
"Talking to (Sri Lanka coach) Tom Moody the other day, he said it was a huge advantage to Pakistan the other night with Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 1-37) not really being able to bowl much in the evening, or not able to bowl at his best.
"We will have to consider those things.
"That (Johnson for Hogg) would probably be what we're looking at if we think the dew is going to come into play.
"The whole tournament's on the line for us now. We've got to get out there and make sure we do play very well."