Ricky Ponting Sends Out Warning To England

Ricky Ponting has warned England that they will be under pressure from the start when the two side meet later this year for the Ashes.

England endured a batting collapse in the third test match against Pakistan, which saw the visitors pull off a victory and cut England's test lead to 2-1 with just one more match to play.

It's been twelve months since the two sides met to contest for the Ashes and Ponting has sent out a warming that England will have to play their best from the very first ball.

Speaking to Sky Sports the Australian captain said: "If you look back to the start of the last Ashes here in Australia, their wheels fell off really quickly.

"They were the fancied team last time as well and are going to come in again in a similar boat.

"We'll see how they handle it. They didn't handle it last time and there's no doubt there'll be more pressure on them in this series than probably ever before.

"I'm confident that our guys can hold their nerve and mettle through that - we'll see what England can do."

England won the Ashes on home soil last year but were subjected to a 5-0 whitewash when they last played in Australia back in 2006/07.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw