Ricky Ponting said on Monday his Australian team were on the verge of "something special" over the next eight months packed with an Ashes series, a tour to India and next year's World Cup. The Australians began a training camp on Queensland's Sunshine Coast and the skipper said he was excited by the prospect of what his team had to offer.
Ponting's men face two Tests and three one-dayers in India in October followed by a five-Test home Ashes series and seven one-dayers against England leading up to the World Cup on the sub-continent from February to April. "I am looking forward to the next eight months of international cricket probably more than I have any period of my career," Ponting told reporters at the camp. "I have been lucky to play in a lot of great teams and had success with those teams but I feel the current team of players now is on the brink of doing something special as well.
"We have been there or thereabouts with achieving something pretty special for a while. "Going through the Australian summer undefeated last year (against the West Indies and Pakistan) was a great achievement by the team but we will be better than that in the coming months."
Ponting will be aiming to improve on the last 12 months of eight wins in 10 Tests and 23 victories in 30 ODIs, including the Champions Trophy triumph. While regaining the Ashes after relinquishing them in England last year is a constant topic of discussion, Ponting said his team had not lost sight of their looming tour of India.
"We have managed to maintain some very high standards around the group," he said. "And they are what we want to build on until the middle of April, when we play some of the biggest cricket that there is on the international calendar - a Test series in India, an Ashes series in Australia and a World Cup on the sub-continent soon after. Ponting began the mind games with England earlier this month when he said it was "absolutely possible" that his team could regain the Ashes with a 5-0 sweep.
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