Australia captain Ricky Ponting stopped short of calling it a 'no excuses' summer for his team-mates, but was nonetheless confident his relatively inexperienced Test line-up could make a statement against Pakistan and the West Indies.

Ponting finds himself at the helm of a transitional side which has slipped to No.4 on the ICC's Test rankings after series losses to India, South Africa and England.

Gone are the days when Ponting could throw the ball to any one of partnership-breaking veterans Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath or Brett Lee, who all boast over 300 Test wickets.

Indeed his likely bowling attack for this week's opening Test of the summer will feature a combined total of 53 games' experience, with 28-year-old Mitchell Johnson the 'seasoned veteran' of the four with 26 Tests to his name.

However it has been almost three years since the likes of Warne and McGrath exited the Test arena and Ponting heeded the words of spin legend Warne that the time of 'rebuilding' must come to an end.

"We've got a squad of players together that I think can keep improving," Ponting said on Monday.

"(For) most of the guys now, it's not so much about being that inexperienced anymore, because a lot of the guys have played in a few Tests and some big Test matches."

"We've had our ups and downs, we've had our moments when we've been really tested and sometimes we haven't been able to cope with what has come our way."

"But for this summer ... we want to start on the right note."

The vast majority of pundits may have written the West Indies off this summer, but complacency will not be an issue for Australia.

Ponting said his charges' focus was very much on rebounding strongly after their inability to retain the Ashes earlier this year.

"The last series that we played, and the last Test we played, was a bit disappointing for this group," he said.

"Our best cricket was good enough, but there was too big a gap compared to our worst, I've been saying that for a long time and that's what we need to get better at."

"I think we lost eight wickets in a session or something there (at the Oval), you're aware that is happening, but to be able to go bang - and stop it, can sometimes be pretty hard."

Ponting maintained his side would take a lot of positives away from the failed Ashes campaign.

"They should all be better off for that run and that experience, so the lessons that are learnt from England will hopefully come through the summer, and when those critical moments come up we can be a little bit better," he said.

Ponting confirmed Nathan Hauritz was set to rejoin the XI.

"It's always important to have a specialist spinner I think ... I can't see how this wicket here will be any different."

With the make-up of his attack essentially decided, the other major headache troubling the 34-year-old was whether to throw the new ball to Johnson, whom Ponting backed would regain his confidence and ability to swing the ball in to right-handers.

"He's our go to wicket-taking type, whether that means he has to bowl with the new ball or bowl with the older ball is something I have to work out before Thursday," Ponting said.