Melbourne: Ricky Ponting may be the first Australian skipper to lose the Ashes in 20 years but he has still been rated as the best Ashes Captain in the past 30 years by the legendary Richie Benaud.

Benaud, himself an Australian skipper, plumped for Ponting ahead of Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh in his ultimate Ashes XII.

"The last Ashes was a tough series for all the Aussies and, in particular, Ricky Ponting," the former leg-spinner said.

"He is learning to be his own captain and is working out how best to use his senior players. There is no doubt he is a better and stronger captain than last year," he was quoted as saying by the 'Herald Sun' today.

"When a series is lost there is always going to be a finger pointed and more (often) than not it's at the captain.

"He (Ponting) restocked and looked at how best to go about captaining and we are now seeing a stronger leader." Ponting last year saw his side lose the Ashes in a dramatic 2-1 series defeat in England and was criticised for being too indecisive on the field.

Heading into his second Ashes series as skipper, Ponting has said he has matured as a leader and is ready to make amends for last year's disappointment.

Ponting was also named at No. 3 in the batting order in Benaud's team, despite averaging 41.23  10 runs below his career average against England.

Greg Chappell was at No. 4 with Border and Waugh in the middle-order.