Skipper Ricky Ponting believes Australia primed to achieve 'something special' over next eight months

IN an ominous Ashes warning, Ricky Ponting says his Australian team are on the verge of "something special" during a testing next eight months.

Preparing for the tough period that includes a tour of India, the home Ashes series and the 2011 World Cup, Ponting couldn't hide his excitement at the team's Sunshine Coast camp on Monday.

"I am looking forward to the next eight months of international cricket probably more than I have any period of my career," said Ponting.

"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 was a great achievement by the team but we will be better than that in the coming months."

A big call considering their tally over the last year - eight wins in 10 Tests and 23 victories in 30 ODIs, including the Champions Trophy triumph.

While talk has been dominated by the upcoming Ashes series, Ponting said his team had not lost sight of their looming stint on the subcontinent - featuring two Tests and three ODIs in October.

"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.

'Van Gogh of spinners' draws strength from trials and tribulations

TEST bowler Nathan Hauritz confessed the reason he needed to leave Queensland and re-establish himself in NSW four years ago was he feared becoming a bitter spinner because of the way he was being used by his home state, along with the unrealistic expectations the Bulls placed upon him.

Since moving south, Hauritz has established himself as Australia's first-choice spin bowler, and his reputation as one of the nation's most prized players spiked during the week when Test skipper Ricky Ponting described him as a ''lock'' in the team to contest the Ashes.

"I made the decision to improve myself as a player and as a person as well," said the off-spinner who has taken 57 wickets in 15 Tests. "I became pretty bitter in Queensland and I wasn't very constructive for the team's dynamics.

Hauritz said Ponting's public vote of confidence in him before the Ashes series meant a lot, but added that he can't afford to take his place in the team for granted. "It is comforting to know my captain has such confidence in me," he said. "The rest, though, is up to me. I have to get fit [after the injury], I have to train well and get back the consistency I had before I got injured. I need to keep my confidence up, to keep working and to keep improving and learning.''