England and Melbourne Stars allrounder Luke Wright is finding it hard to believe the mighty Australia can be ranked ninth in Twenty20 cricket.

Australia’s opening game in the group stage of the World T20 in Sri Lanka is against Ireland on Wednesday, however George Bailey’s men face defending champions England in a warm-up game in Colombo on Monday (1400 AEST).

And Wright says England would be foolish to expect they’ll come up against a bunch of also-rans.

“They’ve had a bit of stick for their ranking, which they’re obviously going to want to put right,” Wright said on Sunday.

“You only have to look at their side to think they can’t be that low. They’re going to be determined to get a good start, and so are we.”

Monday’s warm-up is a re-match of the 2010 final which England won comfortably in Barbados.

Pace-bowling allrounder Wright, a veteran of England’s 2010 World T20 campaign, says he gained enormous confidence following knee surgery when he journeyed Down Under last summer to play in the Big Bash League.

The 27-year-old hit a 44-ball hundred for the Stars, the fastest in Australian domestic T20 history, and scored 236 runs at 39.33.

“I was a bit worried about whether I’d be able to play cricket again at one point,” he said.

“Then I was to go to Australia after the surgery and see how it went.

“After that went well, and my knee felt good, then I started to focus on hoping to try and get back for this World Cup – and luckily, that happened.

“It (playing in Australia) couldn’t have really gone much better than it did.

“Learning out there, from a lot of the guys I played with, gave me that confidence.”

Wright, who averages 15.00 with the bat and 31.85 with the ball in 32 T20 Internationals, admits he needs to lift his game.

“I probably haven’t done myself justice enough when I’ve played for England,” he says.

“I love batting at the top of the order. That’s where I’ve made my name in the other tournaments.”