James Pattinson will replace Mitchell Starc in Australia's pace attack for the opening Test against West Indies at Bellerive Oval, but even one day out from the first day's play, much of the focus is elsewhere.

As Tasmanians enter Bellerive Oval they will do so under the gaze of the Ricky Ponting Statue. It sits in front of the Ricky Ponting Stand. Want to guess what the WiFi password is when you take your seat? Yep, it's 'Ponting'.

The all-time great is a symbol of everything that is positive about the game in the state. "Tasmanian to the bone" he labelled himself upon the launch of the monument in his honour, capturing his pull shot in full flight. There may be no Apple Islander in the XI this week, but gee they still love their Ricky.

Yet, whether future generations will be coming to watch Test matches here is unclear as ever. This, not cricket, has served as the obstinate backdrop to the series opener at Hobart, alongside well-founded speculation that the West Indies will struggle to be so much as competitive. The excitement of pink balls in Adelaide feels long ago.

Breaking with tradition, Steve Smith is not entering the series with a standard patter about taking matters one game at a time; instead, he is expressly after a 3-0 whitewash. If his team does pull that off, it will return the Australians to second place in the ICC's world Test rankings for whatever that is worth.

The West Indies' starting point is far more modest. Captain Jason Holder is simply focused on getting the individual component parts of his team operating as he believes they can. He falls short of saying it in as many words, but his subtext is clear: he just wants his team to play somewhere near their potential. After their pre-Test thrashing by a team of largely uncapped kids, Holder presents as a proud young man who wants something to be proud about.

In June, Australia accounted for the West Indies easily in the Caribbean, a 2-0 win, but that scoreline belies that fact that as tourists the Australians did not look convincing in either first innings, with the noticeable exception of vital tons from Adam Voges and Steve Smith. This underpinned the pre-game fire of Curtly Ambrose - now a bowling consultant - who lamented the West Indies' inability to finish off Australia when the chances arose. He says they can pry open the hosts' middle order. He says they can win.

Not surprisingly, Smith does not share Ambrose's critique of his middle order. By contrast, he has doubled down on Mitch Marsh, endorsing him once more as the country's number six.

The skipper acknowledges he wants "a few more runs" from his young all-rounder but has rejected a pointed and public call from selector Mark Waugh to shuffle him down to seven, with wicketkeeper Peter Nevill taking the step up.

"He's there to do a job, to score runs for the team, and I thought he got a bit of confidence out of the way he played in the second innings at Adelaide," Smith said.

"He doesn't need to do anything different to that.

"Hopefully he can come out and play his natural game and hopefully get a few runs for us this match."

With the ball, as expected James Pattinson has been elevated from the squad into the XI as a result of Mitchell Starc's season-ending foot injury. With 51 wickets in 13 Tests, and having overcome his own injury strife, Smith is backing the Victorian to lead the attack at a pace approaching 150kph.

"He's got a lot of aggression, he's not afraid to show that which is a great attribute," Smith said.

"I think he's pretty similar to Joshy Hazlewood in the way he bowls and hopefully those two can lead our attack really well."

A day out from play, before the covers were curiously put on by curators despite the blazing sun, the pitch contained a noticeable tinge of green. Smith acknowledges this as an exposure for his side, saying they have been "disappointing" when the "wicket has been doing a little bit" of late, including that most recent Test in Adelaide.

But that does not mean we should assume that Smith will field if he wins the toss of the coin. If he did, it would be the first time since he took over the captaincy.

He told the ABC he had a "little look" at the Shield fixtures played here so far this year, where teams have been twice inserted, but his decision would come down to how he saw the conditions both underfoot and overhead on the morning of the match.

Asked if he wanted his team to be ruthless in this series, Smith said he "absolutely" does. Sending in the visitors would certainly be that.