Ricky Ponting has revealed that a team meeting a week after Australia's 1-2 Ashes defeat to England last year was the brainchild for the squad's remarkable success over the past 14 months.
Australia, which reclaimed the coveted Ashes urn with a win in the third Test in Perth, has now won 13 of its past 14 Test matches since arriving back from England a deflated and tired squad.
Ponting said an in-depth meeting involving all players and coaching staff after that Ashes defeat kick-started the squad's planning for an assault on England when it arrived in Australia to defend the Ashes
"I think the planning started pretty much the moment we arrived back from England," Ponting said after Australia wrapped up the series in Perth with a 206-run victory in the third Test at the WACA Ground.
"We sat down then and addressed the whole Ashes series and where we felt that we went wrong, and what was holding us back through the last series."
"If anyone here sat back and watched us train and prepare over the last 12 or 14 months, it's probably a little bit different than it was before that. I know now that we are going into Test matches as well prepared as we possibly can."
During that meeting, players discussed the need for greater coaching expertise, which led to the appointment of Troy Cooley as a bowling coach.
Cooley, who was widely credited as being a key component of England's Ashes success in 2005 when he served as the bowling coach of England's national squad, was lured back to Australia at the end of his contract in May.
"Looking back on the last Ashes series, I think it was one of the great shames that we had some world-class fast bowlers struggling a lot through that series and no one to help them out," Ponting said.
"Since then we've now got more assistant coaches…more people on hand to help these players out when things aren't going as well as they'd like."
"We've probably set a new standard for ourselves now, as individual players and as a team, on the way to prepare and the way to play and it's up to all the players to make sure we keep toeing that line."
Australia's first assignment after its Ashes defeat to England last year was the ICC Super Series, which Australia dominated in both the Test and one-day format.
"I and the team had a great feeling around that Super Series," Ponting said.
"I said going into the first one-day game that I didn't think anybody was going to beat us - I didn't care what team we were playing."
"As we saw we were playing the best lot of players from around the world in that series, and as far as I was concerned, that's where all of this cricket that we are playing right now started."
"There was a burning passion and desire within the boys to make themselves better and make the team better…and I think that's coming through in our cricket."
Ponting praised the commitment shown by the squad after its latest win over England, and said Australia deserved to be 3-0 up heading into the Boxing Day Test.
"I think we've been really tough in tough moments of this series," he said.
"We've just identified moments and situations in games where a certain style of play has been required, and we've managed to get through those tough periods really well."
"Whenever we've had the initiative in this series so far we've really capitalised on that and not given England a sniff."
Despite Australia holding an unassailable lead in the series, Ponting warned that the team's hunger to win was still as strong as ever.
"I think with all that hurt that was carried over from the last series, I think the guys will make sure that they're preparing as well as they can and getting themselves right," he said.
"I won't be happy if we lose a Test match from here, and I'm sure the other players are in exactly the same boat."
