Arthur says with in-form quicks Pat Cummins and James Pattinson on the sidelines through injury, and all-rounder Shane Watson possibly not returning from his latest injury dramas until next month’s one-day series against India and Sri Lanka, Australia’s depth is just going to get better.

Arthur’s eyes lit up after Australia’s win in Perth when asked if he felt England players were starting to take notice of No4-ranked Australia’s achievements in establishing a 3-0 lead in the four-match series against No2-ranked India.

‘‘Judging by the reports that I’ve read, they have started to take a little bit of notice,’’ Arthur said.

The new coach said his men had already achieved more than he expected, quickly recovering from an embarrassing drawn series against New Zealand last month.

After regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Arthur said they still had much work to do as they set about reaching the twin goals of winning back the Ashes and regaining the No1 Test ranking.

‘‘I’d like the Ashes to probably start in two months’ time so we’d have Cummins, Watson and Pattinson all available,’’ Arthur said. ‘‘It is the ultimate goal. This Indian series was a world championship cricket series for us.

‘‘The South African series early next summer is going to be a huge series.

‘‘We need to be able to win those series against opponents ranked higher than us in the world in order to go back into England and challenge.

‘‘I’d be lying if I didn’t say that we were trying to build a really competitive team to go back and win them [Ashes] in 2013, but not at the detriment of any other series.

‘‘There’s a lot of good talent. Competition for places is going to be rife.’’

Australia’s only selection concern for the Fourth Test in Adelaide starting on January 24 is on which fast bowler to drop from the four-man attack used in Perth.

South Australia spinner Nathan Lyon is set to return for his first home Test.

Ben Hilfenhaus (23) and Peter Siddle (17) are the leading wicket-takers in the series but one is due for a rest under Cricket Australia’s new rotation policy.

‘‘A lot will depend on how we look at our one-day squad as well and players who are going to get a proper workload through that,’’ said Arthur, who hopes struggling No3 Shaun Marsh, whose average is 3.50 in the series, gets another dig in Adelaide.