Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has praised the England team for its crushing wins against Pakistan in the ongoing Test series, but predicted that the effect of playing the Ashes in different conditions would be significant.

"I think you have to be [impressed]. They've played some good cricket for quite a while now. A lot of their middle-of-the-road sort of players, experience-wise, have really stepped up in [Jimmy] Anderson and [Stuart] Broad," The Age quoted Ponting, as saying.