Ricky Ponting has admitted Australia will study England's methods on and off the pitch in an effort to regain the Ashes.

Ponting believes his team will be better and stronger for the Ashes defeat.

"I think it's pretty important we have an in-depth review of the whole Ashes series, to examine what we did well - and what we did poorly," Ponting wrote in his column in The Australian newspaper.

"We can all learn a little bit from the way England have played, and from their off-field set-up.

"They have lots of assistant coaches providing expert advice, and certainly have more hands on deck than we do.

"So we'll have to look at the model they have put in place, and we must also examine the way their players have changed and adapted their games.

"Hopefully we as players can learn something from them, because Shane Warne has been the only really consistent performer we had through the summer."

Ponting said he would stand back and not push Warne into making a quick decision on his future.

"I'll leave it to him to work out," he added.

"Having said that, I would like Warney to play as long as he physically can, because he is so vital to our team.

"Without him, we would have been a fair way further behind the eight-ball.

"So trust me, if he's even thinking about retiring in the next little while, I will certainly try to squeeze a little bit longer out of him."

Ponting conceded the way the team approached the series could have contributed to the defeat.

"We probably put too much pressure on ourselves in this series because it was built up as such a big one, and that probably held us back a bit," he continued.

"It seems like the whole of Australia was transfixed by this series. They wanted us, and expected us, to play well in the last game to retain the Ashes.

"That hasn't happened, so I'm not sure what the reaction will be. I know there will be a lot of people who question what I have done on this tour, and the way some of the other guys have played as well.

"I will have to answer all those questions, but I believe as long as I have done everything right by my team-mates and by everybody else involved, then it's up to the critics and other people to form their own opinions."

Ponting expects the nucleus of the team to hang around - and bounce back.

"We've had pretty much plain sailing for a long time, but now we've been challenged and haven't matched up or played as well as we would have liked," he said.

"But I think that will be a good thing for us. We'll work a bit harder, and the next time we play we will know to enjoy those good times as much as we can - because you never know when they're going to end.

"You also never know when guys are going to leave the dressing room for good.

"So we have to go away, work hard and have a bit of a think about the way we're playing our cricket. And make sure we're better in our next game."

Ponting's predecessor, Steve Waugh, said Cricket Australia need not go on the hunt for instant scapegoats.

Writing in the Melbourne Herald Sun, Waugh said some big lessons had to be learned from the loss.

"Throughout the Test series, Australia lifted its intensity only when it was backed into a corner with the game slipping away instead of setting the tone and bullying the opposition from day one," said Waugh.

"It lacked the spark and self-belief that has been its trademark for so long.

"You could see it in the body language, field placements and general intent in the field, culminating in countless missed chances."

Waugh believes, however, England's win will be good for the game.

"England's victory will breathe life into world cricket with the other teams seeing Australia's invincibility vanish," said Waugh.

"Fear will be replaced by expectation, intimidation will be met with confrontation.

"The simple answer for the Australian team to return to the winner's circle is to get away from cricket for a couple of weeks to clear the mind, followed by back-to-basics work focused on fielding.

"In most matches, the team that fields with purpose and intent wins, because it is a direct reflection of the hunger and attitude of the group."