Skipper keen to turn the screw

Stuart Clark is congratulated by his team-mates © Getty Images

Buy this photo

Ricky Ponting has set his sights on strengthening Australia’s advantage in the Ashes series by giving England no respite in Friday’s second Test in Adelaide.

Australia wrapped up a resounding 277-run triumph in the opening Test at the Gabba in only 90 minutes on Monday having dismissed England for 370 after they resumed on 293 for five.

The result was not really in doubt from the moment Kevin Pietersen, who was unbeaten on 92 overnight, fell to Brett Lee off the fourth ball of the day and gives Australia an important advantage going into the second of back-to-back Tests.

But Ponting, mindful of how England bounced back from a crushing defeat at Lord’s in the opening Test of 2005 to win the series, has warned his side not to allow England to recover from the crushing loss and force home their advantage in Adelaide.

“It’s good for us having played as well as we have, there’s not too much time for England to go away and do too much to get their games in order,” said Ponting, who was named man of the match after hitting 196 and an unbeaten 60 at the Gabba.

Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting © Getty Images

Buy this photo

“We’ll be right to hit the ground again on Friday and there’s a really good feeling around the group at the moment having played as well as we have over the last five days, so we can carry that into Friday.

“It’s up to us to keep them under pressure. They’ll be able to bounce back if we allow them to, which is probably what happened last time around.

“But if we play the same way as we did in this game - good, hard Test match cricket - then England should find it hard to really dominate the next game.

“In Test matches there are going to be periods when you’re in front and there are going to be periods when you’re behind and it’s how you manage that and how you keep that momentum in your favour or how you change it if you’re behind.”

The only doubt about Australia’s victory on the final day was whether the forecast thunder storms kept away for long enough to allow Australia to tear through England’s lower order.

Seamer Stuart Clark, the player most under threat if Australia decide to field two spinners in Adelaide, responded to the challenge by making the selectors’ decision as difficult as possible by claiming a seven-wicket match haul including the final three wickets.

Kevin Pietersen took the attack to Australia © Getty Images

Buy this photo

“We only needed five wickets this morning and a lot of those were tail-enders,” said Ponting. “We thought the first wicket this morning was going to be very important to us and luckily for us we got one early on that got us off and got us rolling.

“It’s always hard work to win a Test match, it doesn’t matter what the final result is.

“At different times during this Test match we’ve been tested as a team and England have probably been under pressure a lot more than us through this game, but nothing’s ever easy winning a Test and you should never take it for granted and we won’t be doing that after this result.”

Ponting also rejected suggestions that England’s lack of cricket at the start of the tour - they had a single one-day match and two three-day games leading into the start of the Ashes series - was a contributory factor in their poor performance on the opening three days at the Gabba.

That lack of match practice has led some to suggest England were under-prepared for such an important series, but Ponting stressed: “They couldn’t have been more under-cooked than us.

“We had one first-class game after the Champions Trophy and we’d only been in the country for a week and a half before the first Test.

“If anyone was going to be undercooked you’d have thought it was going to be Australia going into this game, but we found ways and means to play some good cricket - I don’t think they can use that as an excuse.”

Ricky Ponting was named man of the match © Getty Images

Buy this photo

Australia will travel to Adelaide on Tuesday full of confidence before beginning their preparations for the next Test, but Ponting is keen his side use the next few days usefully and focus on preventing England fighting back like they did 14 months ago.

“We’ve started this series very well. From the first day right the way through the Test we’ve been in total control of the game and it’s very satisfying,” he added.

“To have waited so long for this game to come around and train as hard as we have and get ourselves prepared, for it all to fall into place as it has has been great.

“You can’t afford to take the foot off the accelerator whatsoever. It’s a good opportunity for us all to sit back and think about the last series and think about the way we may have been thinking going into that second Test and make sure we’re better off this time around.”

All-rounder Shane Watson, who missed out at Brisbane with a right hamstring strain, has failed to recover in time for consideration at Adelaide and will not be included in Australia’s squad announced on Tuesday.