New Delhi, Oct. 8: The world conquering team from Down Under are here to conquer the final frontier — the Champions Trophy.

The Australians, however, are fully aware of their not so flattering record in this competition. With coach John Buchanan reaching the end of his illustrious association with the team, he along with captain Ricky Ponting have set their eyes firmly at their latest target.

"We are looking to improve on our performance in Kuala Lumpur. We are concentrating on this series and do not have one eye on the Ashes, as some believe. This is the only major series before the World Cup and we are not looking too far ahead," Buchanan said. When questions started to veer around Shane Warne and his comments, Buchanan said: "I have no hard feelings against Shane. Both me and Ponting are satisfied with the outcome of this episode."

When asked about his plans for this series, Ponting was quick to say: "We have been favourites for almost every series now. But in the Champions Trophy, teams like West Indies and New Zealand have been the eventual winners when they were not even close to being the favourites. It all depends on who plays well that day, especially in knock-out tournaments."

When quipped on the Ashes, Ponting said: "It is hard to avoid talk on the Ashes but we are focused on the Champions Trophy. As far as our chances in this series go, I believe we have an excellent bowling attack and have flexibility in the batting as well as bowling department."

As the cricketing world is licking its fingers on another sumptuous battle between Glenn McGrath and Sachin Tendulkar, the Aussie paceman himself seemed excited at the prospect. "My recent bouts with Sachin have been in a good spirit. We have been smiling a lot and it has been enjoyable. We have had the better of each other on different occasions but off-late, 65-55 in my favour," McGrath said.

With the Brett Lee and McGrath partnership ready to torment the cricketing world after the assault by batsmen of the calibre of Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds, the Aussie juggernaut looks a hard one to stop.