A buoyant Steve Smith believes he is a better batsman now than four years ago and feels a repeat of his Bradman-esque 2019 Ashes is not out of the question.
Smith sent a minor scare through Australia's camp on Wednesday when he was struck on the gloves while batting in the nets midway through his second hit, and did not return.
However, the right-hander is set to train again on Thursday, in a sign he will have no issues ahead of the series opener.
He will enter Friday's match as England's biggest headache, after showing signs of his best with a typically determined 121 in the World Test Championship final against India.
Smith's 2019 Ashes series was the stuff of wizardry. His return of 774 runs at an average of 110.54 was the best by an Australian on English soil since Don Bradman in 1930, with three centuries and only one score below 80.
He still classes his twin tons at Edgbaston as the favourite Test centuries of his career, with the hundreds coming on return after his one-year ban out of Cape Town.
But the 34-year-old is eager to point out that series is already no one-off in his career.
He averaged 137.4 when Australia beat England 4-0 at home in 2017/18, and has averaged 83.26 in all Tests in England since his maiden ton at The Oval in 2013.
It's part of the reason why he believes it is possible to repeat what he achieved in England four years ago.
"I hope I'm better. I strive every day to be better," Smith said.
"It was obviously a good series for me last time here, and I'd love to replicate something similar and help us lift the urn at the end, but we'll wait and see.
"My Ashes series before that back home was reasonable as well. I've had a couple of good ones, it'd be nice to repeat it again."
Smith is aware England will come armed with more plans for him this time.
They have shown in training they will use a leg-slip for Smith against the quicks, in tactics similar to the one first used by New Zealand and Neil Wagner with short-pitched bowling in 2019/20.
The ploy effectively had the same impact as bodyline on Bradman.
While it didn't completely silence Smith, it slowed down his scoring and brought his average on par with others.
Smith briefly changed his technique last home summer to counter the plan, but will return to the technique used in England in 2019 during these Ashes.
The one issue for England is they do not have a left-hander like Wagner, and the decision to leave Mark Wood out for Edgbaston leaves them without an out-and-out quick.
Regardless, Smith said he expected the hosts to get "funky" and was ready for whatever was thrown at him.
"I'm getting in my mind different things that they'll come with and how I'm likely to play it," he said.
"We've seen in the last 12 months they do some funky things and they're going to have to try some different things at certain times.
"One of my big strengths has been I've been able to adapt on the go and understand what they're trying to do and solve the problem out there in the middle."