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The war of words before the Ashes is escalating further, with former England paceman Stuart Broad declaring that England will confront "probably the worst Australian team since 2010" during their tour this season.

Warner's Bold Prediction Met With Doubt

The former England bowler's claim was in response to David Warner – an Ashes foe of Broad’s – predicting a clean sweep for the hosts. "If the captain [Pat Cummins] doesn’t play, they might win one game," Warner commented.

Australia have not lost a Ashes match on home soil after England's series win in the 2010-11 tour. Their 5-0 win three years later – following seven defeats in their last nine matches – came before 4-0 Ashes triumphs in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Team Doubt and Injury Concerns for the Hosts

Yet, the No 1-ranked Test side, who have lost only one of their last thirteen series, approach the forthcoming contest with questions over the makeup of their batting lineup and the health of Cummins, who is doubtful to play in the opening match at the Perth stadium because of a back injury.

"It's extremely challenging to win in Australia as an England side, or any side," Broad remarked during his podcast. "The Australians are strong favorites."

"Australia are under the most pressure because they’re anticipated to prevail, they’re formidable in home conditions, but they’ve got question marks over their squad and question marks over their captain’s fitness. It's not unreasonable in believing – it’s actually not an opinion, it’s a fact – it’s probably the weakest Aussie lineup since the 2010 era. Meanwhile, it's the strongest English team in over a decade. So those things point towards the reality that it’s going to be a brilliant contest."

Parallel to Historic Series

"The Australians have remained so consistent for a long period of time that it was clear who would open the innings, who would bat, what bowlers there were, and they don’t have that. It’s very much a comparable scenario to 2010-11 when England went and won there. The reality is the Aussies typically need to underperform to lose in Australia and England have to be very good. The English have a solid opportunity of performing exceptionally and Australia have a decent chance of being bad."

Selection Dilemma for the Visitors

A key question for the English camp remains their choice at the number three position, with Pope and Jacob Bethell contesting the spot. Cook, whose prolific scoring set up the tourists’ series win 15 years ago, believes it would be "unusual" for Stokes' team to abandon Pope, who has been a consistent at number three for the past three seasons.

"I'd select Ollie Pope at number three," said Cook. "I think it’s quite an easy choice. They have someone who’s been involved in this preparation for several years. He has led the team, he has delivered some extraordinary innings for the national side and he’s a hundred-maker. He understands how to score hundreds in first-class cricket. If they drop him now, I think that alters the entire balance of what they’ve built up over the last few years."

Although praising Jacob Bethell as "a hugely gifted cricketer", Cook added: "It would represent a major risk [to pick him] because if that doesn’t work where do you move back to, someone you’ve just got rid of? They have committed heavily in players such as Pope and [Zak] Crawley that it would seem such a strange thing to make a switch at this stage."

Leadership Change and Broadcast Team

Ollie Pope has been replaced by Brook as the team's deputy skipper but, as per Cook, that will "take the pressure off" the Surrey right-hander.

"The management has acted decisively on that, thinking if there is an injury to Stokes, they’ve got a guy in Brook who has led the ODI team and it's evident that he seems to be a natural fit. This will relieve Pope. I believe it won't weaken his position. Certainly it will have hurt him because anytime you get taken off a leadership thing it isn't perfect, but I doubt it undermines him."

Alastair Cook will be in Australia as part of TNT’s coverage of the series, and will be accompanied by former Ashes champions Finn and Graeme Swann as on-the-ground pundits. The network will offer a dedicated commentary stream but will use a mixed approach, with commentators Eykyn and Hatch to work off-site in the UK, while the trio provide co-commentary from Australia. Ebony Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the on-ground coverage to be hosted by Ives.