Melbourne, May 29: Australia are not exactly the favourites at next month’s World Twenty20 Championships given their past record, but skipper Ricky Ponting feels it is hard to predict a team’s chances in a format, which is perhaps the most unpredictable of all.

Australia were ousted by eventual champions India in the semifinals of the first edition of the championship and have won only 11 of the 21 Twenty20 internationals they have played till date.

But Ponting believes his side would put up a better show in the second edition of the event starting June 5 in England. "I think that the game is hard to judge if you try to get a form line even out of the IPL (Indian Premier League), since there were all sorts of upsets throughout that. It is that sort of a game," Ponting said.

Ponting said his men have learnt their lessons from the last edition of the championship in South Africa and are expected to come up with a better show this year.

"We will be very well prepared for that, we have learnt a lot about the game in the last couple of years," he said.

"We were disappointed with the way we exited the tournament the last time around. You can expect a bold showing from Australia," he added.

Australia open their tour with two 20-over warm-up matches before their ICC World Twenty20 campaign begins on June 6 against West Indies, with Sri Lanka providing their other Group C opposition.

After the tournament they will then have two games to prepare for the all-important first Ashes Test in Cardiff which starts on July 8.

Meanwhile, Ponting also said that playing Andrew Flintoff in the forthcoming Ashes series could be fatal if the all-rounder is not fully fit. Ponting and his teammates flew into England this week ahead of the world championship which precedes the Ashes and the combative batsman wasted little time turning up the heat on the old enemy.

While Ponting claims he feels refreshed after four weeks away from the game, England are fretting over the fitness of Flintoff, who has been ruled out of the world championship, as he continues to recover from knee surgery on an injury suffering during his stint in the IPL. — Agencies