Ponting wants Australia to go all out

Ricky Ponting has urged his team to adopt a full-throttle attitude - the same approach that has paid rich dividends on home soil - as they embark on a testing tour of Sri Lanka. "I want the team to be able to win more away from home," he said. "I want us to play the same brand of cricket overseas as we do here in Australia. That's the challenge that lies ahead of us now."

Australia's record in the sub-continent has been the one blot on their reputation in recent times. They lost 1-0 in Sri Lanka on their last tour in 1999 - a series remembered primarily for the sickening on-field collision between Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie - and haven't won a series in India since 1969-70. It's a failing that Ponting is very much aware of. "I think it's a huge challenge for us -- anywhere in the sub-continent has always been a huge challenge for Australia," he said.

"There are conditions over there that looking back through the records, probably Australian teams haven't performed that well in. But saying that, a lot of the guys in the side now have played a lot of cricket in those conditions."

Australia play a three-Test series which starts on March 8, but the first challenge will be five one-day internationals, the first of which will be played at Dambulla on February 20. "We're playing really good one-day cricket at the moment, so we're pretty excited about our prospects over there," said Ponting.

Ponting has led the one-day team since Steve Waugh was sacked in January 2002, and he was confident that he could also maintain Australia's position as the world's best Test team ahead of his first series as five-day captain.

"I've got a better understanding now of how the team best operates. It's worked out extremely well that I've had the chance to captain the one-day side before the Test team," he said.

The main threat to Australia will undoubtedly be Muttiah Muralitharan, the offspinner who has raced to 485 wickets from just 85 Tests. "I don't think you will ever hit him out of the attack, but you can certainly put him under a bit more pressure," said Ponting. "He's had work wherever you play him and he's going to be even harder in Sri Lanka."

As for Australia's own spin wizard, Ponting refused to take Shane Warne's inclusion in the Test squad for granted. "It's just going to depend on what happens in the coming days, I think," he said. "He's got a game against Tasmania coming up in the next couple of days. I'm sure the selectors would be keeping a pretty close eye on him. You can't take anything like that for granted."

Warne has 491 wickets in Test cricket, and his tussle with Murali - to see who becomes the second man, after Courtney Walsh, to break the 500 barrier - is likely to be one of the highlights of an engrossing series.