Will England's Ashes (urn)ing turn to dust?

LONDON, Wednesday (AFP) Australia captain Ricky Ponting launched a spirited defence of his leadership style ahead of the fifth and final Test against England where anything less than a win for the tourists will see them lose their 16-year grip on the Ashes.

Ponting was heavily criticised for his decision to field first in the second Test at Edgbaston, a match England went on to win by two runs and so level the series at 1-1.

Now, with England 2-1 up in the best of five encounter after their three-wicket fourth Test win in Nottingham, Ponting faces the biggest challenge of his captaincy career when the series finale gets underway at The Oval here Thursday.

But with several players such as opening batsman Matthew Hayden, middle-order strokeplayer Damien Martyn and dropped fast bowler Jason Gillespie all having under-performed this series, Ponting said it was "unfair" to lay all the blame for Australia's position on his shoulders.

"I think I said as early as the second Test match I probably wasn't as sharp as changing momentum at different times in the game and being as defensive when I needed to be," Ponting said.

"You go in on what you think is right at the time. I'm not a great one at looking back and analysing previous Test matches or previous innings and picking out what I've done well or what I haven't done well because I actually feel I'm doing the right things at the right times in the game.

"As long as I think that and the other 10 guys in the team think that we feel we're giving ourselves the best chance.

"There are a lot of things spoken about, lots of plans you talk about to bowlers most overs and you hope they can execute them for you. "If they can't well it might look as if I'm doing something wrong. But I've made it clear in this game that I want to communicate as much as I can to the bowlers wo we're exactly clear on what we do. If that means we take a bit of time between overs than that's the way it will be.

"I've never been one who has sat back and taken all the accolades for anything this team has ever done. I've always shared all that around and never taken any of the great results we've had," the 30-year-old Ponting added.

"I think it would be unfair if it was my fault if we lost this Ashes series. If it came back on me I'll accept it I'm the captain and leader of the side but I'm not batting out there for everybody and I'm not bowling for everybody either.

"I'm doing the best I can, I'm sure the other guys are trying their best but we just haven't put it all together yet."