Hussey prepares to shake off winter rust

The world champions Australia will not take Bangladesh lightly in the three-match series starting in Darwin on Saturday even though they admit to looking ahead to the Champions Trophy. While the tournament is in doubt - a meeting in Dubai was due to determine the venue on Sunday night - Michael Hussey, the vice-captain, said the team would be planning as if it was happening.

"There is some uncertainty there, but we've got to use the Bangladesh series like we're playing in the Champions Trophy," Hussey said during a break in training at Allan Border Field. "From a planning point of view, we want to prepare as well as we can for the Champions Trophy. The Bangladesh series is a great lead-up to that. The guys have had a bit of time off and are a little bit rusty, so it's going to be important that we use this series well."

While Bangladesh are ranked ninth and not part of the eight-team Champions Trophy schedule, they do have inside knowledge of the Australians. "They've really improved a lot and they have an Australian coach in Jamie Siddons, so they will know us well," Hussey said. Siddons was an assistant with Australia and worked around the team between 2005 and 2007.

The squad will be without Ricky Ponting (wrist) and Brett Lee (personal issues) in Darwin while Matthew Hayden is battling a heel problem. However, Hussey has faith in the rest of the outfit to perform without the big names.

"Our guys are really keen, we haven't played for a while now," he said. "All the guys are jumping out of their skin."