Australia ranked below England as Ashes approach

With the Ashes just six weeks away England have risen above Australia in the ICC Test rankings for the first time ever as Ricky Ponting's men, who are on their worst run since 1988, return from India with their tails between their legs having lost the Test series 2-0 to the hosts.

To make matters worse for Ponting one of his former assassins, Shane Warne, has turned on him, using Twitter to lambast his tactics during the second Test in Bangalore.

Given the apparent disarray of the Australian team, who are now only the fifth best in the world, England will be confident that they can beat the Aussies on enemy soil for the first time in 24 years this winter. And when they line up against Australia in Brisbane on November 25 Andrew Strauss's men, ranked four in the world, will be hoping to inflict an unprecedented fourth successive Test defeat on Ponting.

It has taken the best part of 20 years but finally the aura of invincibility that Alan Border built up around Australia has dissipated. The players who made life so utterly miserable for the English in the 1990s are long gone and have not been adequately replaced. Ponting can no longer turn to the likes of Glenn McGrath and Warne to reduce the opposition to rubble and he often has to rely on himself to get the runs his team needs.

Ponting's captaincy is also coming under scrutiny. As the Aussies limped to defeat against India in the second Test, Warne took to Twitter to attack the Ponting's field placings for spinner Nathan Hauritz.

"How the hell can Hauritz bowl to this field?? Feeling for Hauritz, terrible!! What are these tactics? Sorry Ricky but what are you doing?," wrote Warne.

However, there is no more dangerous beast in world cricket than a wounded Australian, and Ponting's men did come within one ball of winning a thrilling first Test in Mohali.

Strauss and his men may feel quietly confident as they prepare for their trip Down Under but they are unlikely to have it all their own way. ·