Ponting watched on disconsolately as England celebrated last year

The Aussies lost their grip on the famous old urn for the first time since 1987 when England won the Tests 2-1.

"It's a huge series for the team - to be the first one to hand over the Ashes in 18 years was something the players were embarrassed and ashamed about.

"England will face a better Australian team than they did last time," he said.

Since their last meeting, Australia have gone from strength to strength - winning 11 of their 12 Tests.

England, on the other hand, have been ravaged by injuries - skipper Michael Vaughan has been already ruled out - and won only two of their nine Tests.

I'd like to think the result will be different this time Ricky Ponting

Ponting is confident his side will see off whoever the tourists line up with when the five-match series begins in Brisbane on 23 November.

"We've worked really hard on our games and performances - everything is heading in the right direction and everything isn't smooth sailing for England.

"I'm confident we'll play well, we've brought our games on a long way since the end of the Ashes.

"We know it will be a big challenge again and if they have a 90% fully-fit team they will be very competitive.

"But in our conditions, with our crowds, and with us being a better team now than we certainly were then, I'd like to think the result will be a bit different this time."

Interest in the sport surged because of last summer's England-Australia clashes, bringing huge television audiences in other cricket-playing countries too.

Ponting believes the two teams must produce something similar to capitalise on that.

"We've had sell-out crowds throughout Australia and even in England's Tests against Sri Lanka - which they wouldn't have dreamt about a couple of years ago," he added.