Australia captain Ricky Ponting said his team were always going to be on the back foot in the second Ashes Test after they "got off to a shambolic start".

The hosts are 1-0 down in the five-match series after England claimed an innings and 71-run victory on day five at the Adelaide Oval.

Australia made a nightmare start to the match when they were reduced to two for three in the first three overs. They never recovered and were bowled out for 245. England replied with a massive 620 for five declared before the Aussies were bowled out for 304 before lunch on the final day.

Ponting said the players need to do some "some soul-searching" ahead of the third Test in Perth, which kicks off on 16 December.

"I would have liked it to have been five hard days, but we got off to a shambolic start to the Test match, losing those two wickets in the first over and then three wickets in the third over," he rued.

"It was a very good wicket and we knew that. We had to make sure that we made a big total in the first innings [but] 245 was never going to be enough.

"This is a bad loss for us, particularly after winning the toss here.

"We have a got a lot of work to do and we've got some soul-searching to do as individual players."