Ben Stokes says this week’s tour game with a Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI in Alice Springs has come at just the right time for England.
The tourists will be in action tomorrow and Saturday at Traegar Park with Stokes among those set to be pressing for a place in the second Ashes Test next week at Adelaide.
Jonathan Trott’s return home with a stress-related illness has opened up a batting spot, not necessarily at Trott’s number three berth, and Stokes is chasing that along with Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance.
Stokes said: "Obviously, there's going to be a place up for grabs, and this game does come at a good time for us for the selection reasons.
"There's three guys trying to take the chance to get that spot, and these days are a good chance for one of us to put our hands up and get in there for Adelaide."
All-rounder Stokes, whose right-arm seam bowling is on a par with his left-handed batting, has an advantage over Bairstow and Ballance in offering an option with the ball.
Given the Adelaide Oval pitch is excepted to be flatter than the one at the Gabba, where Australia won the first Test by 381 runs, that could work in his favour.
However, Stokes knows all the candidates, bowling specialists as well as batsmen, will be desperate to boost their credentials over the next two days.
"Everyone's going to go out there and make sure they put their hand up and prove a point that they want to be out here and be in that second Test match,” he added.
"Whoever does take that role will definitely have the skills to come in and fill that spot. If it's not me I'll wish them all the best."
If Stokes is chosen for Adelaide, he believes he will be ready for his Test debut.
"You've got to be ready - it's Ashes, it's massive, it's the pinnacle of Test cricket,” he said. "If I do go in there I'm going to be the new guy, so I'm ... probably ready for quite a lot of stick.
"If I thought to myself 'aw, I don't think I'm ready for this' then I'd be looking at it the wrong way. It's what every cricketer wants to be a part of - an Ashes Test match, an Ashes series - and if I didn't feel like I was ready, I'd be taking a long, hard look at myself.”