England will begin the Boxing Day Test at ease with their surroundings before a 90,000-plus crowd, and confident they have done their homework since Australia levelled the Ashes in Perth.

The MCG will be at capacity to see who blinks first at 1-1 with two to play and the urn in the balance, after Australia responded to landslide defeat in Adelaide with 267-run revenge at the WACA.

The seesaw series has gripped millions in both countries, and both teams could be forgiven some nerves with so much to win and lose.

England have been largely passive since they finished with a whimper in Perth, practising for the first time today.

They were heartened by James Anderson's apparent well-being - although after an hour's bowling at pace, the leader of England's attack faces another unofficial fitness test on his sore side on Saturday.

His team-mate Jonathan Trott has made it clear he expects Anderson to be fit, and take his place in a team who have learned much from their Ashes experiences so far this winter.

"It's been a good lesson in Test cricket," said number three batsman Trott.

"Going 1-0 up and being really, really keen to perform, things didn't go our way (in Perth).

"It was a good example of how Test cricket can turn around pretty quickly."

Trott is hoping for another about-face on Sunday morning.

"We're very excited," he confirmed.

"It's a huge opportunity, and I'm sure millions of people around the world would love the chance to play in front of such a crowd.

"I feel pretty privileged, but also realise the task in hand and the stakes of playing in an Ashes Boxing Day Test.

"I'm really looking forward to it, and I know the rest of the guys are as well."

Trott thinks he knows what to expect, and is sure England can handle it too.

"It will be especially noisy, and a great spectacle to be a part of," he added.

"But once you get out in the middle and while you're batting, you don't really notice it much.

"I don't think it will be anything that won't be expected, or that the guys won't be ready for."

Shortly before nets on Friday, Trott predicted Anderson will play - and so too, he thinks, will Ricky Ponting.

The Australia captain has also been testing an injury, with a bat in his hand for the first time since he broke his left little finger at the WACA last weekend.

"As a batsman, any sort of discomfort whatever is not handy," said Trott.

"But we all expect Ricky to play, because we know what a tough character he is."

Trott appeared entirely bemused at the slightest suggestion Anderson might be a doubt.

"As far as I know he's looking really good," he said.

"I don't know why he wouldn't play."

There was also an unsurprising vote of confidence from Trott for his fellow middle-order batsman Paul Collingwood.

Between them, and number four Kevin Pietersen, they could muster only nine first-innings runs in the first Test against Mitchell Johnson's lethal inswing.

For Collingwood, that failure was the penultimate instalment in a succession of nine Test innings without a half-century.

But Trott has faith.

"Paul's obviously been around a long time, with plenty of Ashes experience," he said.

"We've all seen the way he's performed over the last couple of years - really, really well, and had a great tour of South Africa.

"As cricket players, no one has a divine right to score runs all the time. I talk from my own experience on that - things just sometimes don't go your way.

"But things can turn around really quickly, and you can be a real champion from here on in."

There have been calls for Collingwood to drop down the order a place to number six, allowing the in-form Ian Bell to be promoted.

But captain Andrew Strauss does not appear in favour of that switch, and Trott added: "Everyone in the team is really happy that Paul is batting at five - and we all believe 100% in him.

"It could be Boxing Day when we see him at his best."

Graeme Swann was another Englishman who was not seen at his best in Perth.

He followed seven wickets in Adelaide with just two at the WACA.

Trott knows, though, that given more favourable conditions - they are likelier at Sydney in the new year than Melbourne over Christmas - off-spinner Swann is a match-winner.

"Over the last two years, Graeme has been a revelation for us," he said.

"When he has the ball in his hands, pretty much all the time something is going to happen - he'll create chances for us.

"We're really fortunate to have him in our team."