Australia captain Ricky Ponting had few worries on the eve of the crucial fifth Test, revealing that all the pressure is with England’s talisman Andrew Flintoff and captain Andrew Strauss.

Australia are currently favourites to retain the Ashes Test at the Oval having squared the series at 1-1 with a comprehensive win over the hosts at Headingley.

And Ponting, who refused to get drawn into the latest corruption allegation that an Australian cricket player had been approached by a bookmaker, said: "I don’t envy Andrew Strauss. It is only a couple of weeks ago since I was answering the same kind of questions.

"All I can say is that I’m extremely excited about the next few days. I feel that things are really going for us and there is a real excitement about the team.

"We have let the younger guys get stuck into their work and they have been able to express themselves in the last few weeks.

"We’re all looking forward to getting out there after 11-12 days out."

With Flintoff set to make the fifth Test his farewell match and England bringing in Jonathan Trott for a Test debut, Ponting said that all the pressure was with the hosts.

The Tasmanian said: "He [Flintoff] has been a terrific player for a very long time. He does add a bit to the England team and we will experience that over the next few days. But there will be extra pressure on him.

On Trott, Ponting added: "It is always hard making a debut against an Australian team so there will be massive pressure on him. It is up to us to make sure we don’t let him get cheap runs."