Ricky Ponting: readying himself for a bigger challenge later this year © Getty Images

The Ashes is more than six months away, but Test cricket's oldest contest is already starting to burn brightly in the Australian players' minds. After a summer of demolitions against Pakistan and New Zealand, Ricky Ponting's men are already plotting a series they believe will be the biggest in years.

Shane Warne will be on his final tour to England and is desperate to leave The Oval in September holding the replica urn. "I wouldn't like to lose a series against England in my time," he said after Australia wrapped up the series against Pakistan. "I want to make sure we keep that record in tact."

Australia have won the Ashes for the past eight contests and fans Down Under are in the strange position of hoping England play well enough to give their side a decent run when the five-Test series begins in July. During the past year only India have beaten Australia - the three Pakistan matches finished in four days - and the rise of England has been watched with increasing interest.

The danger of Michael Vaughan's team was apparent through the returning cheers of supporters when reports arrived of England's collapse in the third Test against South Africa at Cape Town. For much of the past decade the results were barely acknowledged, and predictions of competitive series were mocked.

"Generally when you tour England they think they've got the best team they've had for a while and the best chance," Warne said. "They've been saying that for the last few series, but this time they do have a chance."

Ponting stressed that his immediate concerns were the VB Series and the tour of New Zealand in February and March, but the team has closely monitored England's progress. "In the last couple of weeks we have kept an eye on South Africa," Ponting said. "England have obviously played some great cricket lately, won a lot of Test matches, and are a good side."

Australia claimed an unprecedented five series in 2004 but England managed to trump them by remaining unbeaten throughout the year. "It's going to be a huge series," Ponting said. "It's going to be the biggest that's been played for some time. All of our guys are talking about it in that way."

Peter English is Australasian editor of Cricinfo