Ponting feels familiar pressure

Ricky Ponting's captaincy will be analysed on the Ashes tour in the same way his rise to Australia's No. 3 gained attention during the 2001 visit. After less than 18 months in the top job, Ponting, who missed the first three Tests of the record-breaking India series, faces his toughest assignment against the No. 2-ranked England.

"There's going to be a lot more pressure on everyone during this series just because it's England," he told the Melbourne Age. "There's no doubt about that, but the great thing about it from our side is that there's been expectations on this team for five or six years. We go into every single series as favourite and this one's going to be no different."

Ponting, who rejected Ian Chappell's assesment that he was a conservative leader, said he didn't expect this series to be crucial for his captaincy record as he attempts to stretch Australia's hold on the urn past 16 years. "It's something I don't think too much about," he told the newspaper. "I just try and react to things as they happen and try and think on my feet as much as I can. We've been tested at different times, although the results probably don't indicate that."

On the last tour Ponting sealed his place at No. 3 towards the end of the series with a brilliant century at Headingley, and when he arrives in London on Sunday there will be familiar emotions. "I guess the feeling is going to be fairly similar, because I went there to prove a point last time," he said. "I did it in the end, but I was skating on thin ice for a while. It was right on the back of my Indian nightmare."

Fresh and excited, Ponting told the paper he couldn't wait for the first Test at Lord's on July 21. "If our batsmen play as well as we can that's going to be the key for us," he said. "It's up to us."