Ponting ready for 2005 revenge

Since arriving on these shores two months ago, Ricky Ponting has artfully dodged questions relating to England's 2005 Ashes triumph and its lingering impact on his emotions and legacy. There were no scars, he insisted, and whatever pangs he had once felt were cured by by that great panacea: the 5-0 whitewash at home.

But now, the truth. With the series level at 1-1 and The Oval looming on the horizon, Ponting admitted the fifth Test would double as a demon-exorcising mission if Australia succeeded in retaining the urn at the very ground it was snatched from their grasp in 2005. On that occasion, the tourists entered the final Test in relative disarray after a three-wicket defeat Trent Bridge, but now head to south London optimistic that both form and momentum have turned in their favour.

Asked whether he viewed the Ashes finale as an opportunity to right the wrongs of four years ago, Ponting was unequivocal. "It's a chance I've been waiting for this whole tour and a chance the whole team has been waiting for," he said. "After we lost at Lord's we've been wanting to play well to win a game to get back to 1-1. I've said from the start about how much it would mean to me to win here and it's exactly the same for every other guy that's in our touring squad at the moment. We've been waiting for this moment to come around and now that we've got things back on track and playing good cricket we're all very excited about it. It's going to be a special week for all of us."

Remarkably, it was only two-and-a-half days ago that Ponting stood at risk of becoming the first Australian captain in a century to twice lose away Ashes series, having failed to register a win in his previous seven Tests on English soil. That may still happen, of course, but it now requires England to mount one of their greatest comebacks to force victory on a wicket regarded among the flattest in the kingdom.

Australia, on the other hand, require only a draw to retain the urn, although that seemed the furthest outcome from Ponting's mind on Sunday. Asked by Mike Atherton at the post-match interview whether Australia would push victory in the fifth test, Ponting paused, smiled, then offered: "What do you think?" Seldom has a question been more rhetorical.

At his subsequent forum with the press, Ponting adopted a bullish stance when discussing England's prospects of recovering from a humbling innings and 80-run defeat at Headingley. While England struggle to contend with the loss of Kevin Pietersen, and await medical reports on Andrew Flintoff, the Australians are buoyant at the return to form of Mitchell Johnson, the missing piece of their puzzle to date, and the success of the four-pronged pace attack, trialled for the first time this series in Leeds.

"Looking in the papers this morning they were talking about (Mark) Ramprakash coming back in and those sort of things," Ponting noted. "That's obviously all started which for us is terrific. It will be difficult for them to bounce back now. It will only be that because of what we've got out of this game and what we felt we got coming out of the Edgbaston Test. Some of our guys who had been struggling for a bit of touch probably are (now) in the best form of their careers, which is great. Everything is heading in the right direction for us at exactly the right time of the tour.

"I don't know how they're going to get themselves out of it. I will just focus on what we've got ahead us, which is a couple of days off, a tour game and then preparation for the fifth Test match, which will be one of the best moments probably of my career. That's what cricket's all about for me - 1-1 in an Ashes series going into the last Test match at a great venue at The Oval."

Andrew Strauss identified the need to lift the spirits of his confidence-sapped team ahead of The Oval Test. Ponting felt his task was to contain his youthful squad's exuberance. Therein lies the major difference between the two squads entering the Ashes decider, and Ponting is anxious to capitalise on a momentum swing that has traversed a full 180 degrees since Lord's.

"The important thing for us now is keeping a bit of a lid on what we've done this week," he said. "All the guys will be jumping out of their skins to start The Oval Test match. It's a long way away now ... (but) we'll have a sping in our step and a lot of confidence behind us."