REUTERS - Australia start their Ashes defence on Wednesday  without a single frontline bowler who has previous test experience in England.

The Australians took swift revenge after losing the Ashes 2-1 in England four years ago by winning the return series in Australia 5-0.

But they have lost Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, and on Monday their most experienced bowler Brett Lee pulled out of the first test with a muscle tear. Fast bowler Lee has taken 310 wickets in 76 tests.

Australia's attack will be led by Mitchell Johnson, who played an important role with bat and ball in their series win over South Africa this year, a result which captain Ricky Ponting said was one of the most satisfying of his career.

"It's almost 50 test matches since the 2005 series," Ponting told a news conference on Tuesday.

"There's no doubt that there's a lot of hunger around the group, there's a lot of desire to build on things I think we started in South Africa. Our level of play over there was exceptionally high and our standards were very high."

England captain Andrew Strauss, whose team made a flying start to the English summer with successive wins over West Indies, said the home side "were chomping at the bit to get out there".

"I am very happy where we are with this squad, there's a nice sort of relaxed excitement about what's to come," he said.

Both teams have delayed naming their final XI until Wednesday morning following a final pitch inspection before the first test match to be staged in Wales.