For Australia, this match should be as comfortable as a walk around an oval (not The Oval, winning there is much, much harder). It’s their first game since the 2-1 Ashes defeat in London last Sunday and is a warm-up for when they resume their battles with England in a Twenty20 international at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Australia’s squad has changed significantly over the past four days, with Ricky Ponting heading home with the Test specialists, and Brad Haddin having surgery on his broken left ring finger. A batch of fresh faces has arrived to join Michael Clarke, the stand-in captain, as the group starts planning for the bigger tournaments ahead. Ponting will return towards the end of the seven-match one-day series against England to fine tune before the Champions Trophy in South Africa at the end of September.

This will be the first contest between the teams outside a World Cup and is a big occasion for Scotland. They missed out on qualifying for the 2011 global event so have few opportunities to face the game’s major teams. Last Saturday they lost to Ireland in Aberdeen, scoring only 109, so facing the world champions, who are currently ranked No.3, will be even more difficult.

Australia last turned out in a one-day affair against Pakistan in May, but a more relevant gauge is their form in the Twenty20 World Cup. They were knocked out in the first round, just like Scotland.