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The war of words before the Ashes continues to heat up, with former England paceman Broad declaring that England will face "probably the worst Australian team in over a decade" during their tour this season.

David Warner's Bold Prediction Met With Doubt

Broad's assertion was in response to Warner – a long-time Ashes rival – predicting a 4-0 victory for the home side. "Should the skipper [Pat Cummins] be absent, they could perhaps snatch a single victory," Warner commented.

Australia have not lost a Ashes match at home since England’s series win in the 2010-11 tour. The subsequent 5-0 whitewash three years later – following seven defeats in their last nine matches – came before 4-0 series victories in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Team Doubt and Fitness Worries for the Hosts

However, the top-ranked Test team, who have suffered just a single defeat of their past 13 bilateral series, enter the upcoming assignment with questions over the composition of their top order and the fitness of Pat Cummins, who is unlikely to feature in the first Test at Perth because of a back issue.

"It’s very, very difficult to triumph on Australian soil as an English team, or any side," Broad remarked on his podcast. "The Australians are massive favourites."

"Australia are under the greatest expectations because they’re anticipated to prevail, they’re formidable in home conditions, but they’ve got doubts over their squad and question marks over their captain’s fitness. It's not unreasonable in thinking – this isn't merely a view, it’s a fact – it’s probably the worst Australian team since 2010. Meanwhile, it's the strongest English team in over a decade. These factors point towards the fact that it’s going to be a thrilling Ashes series."

Parallel to Historic Tour

"The Australians have remained highly stable for a long period of time that you just knew who would open the batting, who would bat, which bowlers were available, and they don’t have that. It closely resembles a comparable scenario to 2010-11 when England traveled and emerged victorious. The reality is the Aussies typically need to underperform to be defeated at home and England have to be very good. The English have a solid opportunity of being very good and the Australians face a real possibility of being bad."

Team Dilemma for the Visitors

A key question for England remains their selection at No 3, with Ollie Pope and Bethell contesting the spot. Cook, whose prolific scoring set up the visitors' series victory 15 years ago, believes it would be "strange" for Stokes' team to abandon Ollie Pope, who has been a consistent at number three for the last three years.

"I'd select Pope at number three," said Cook. "In my view it’s quite an easy decision. They have someone who’s been part of this buildup for three or four years. He has led the team, he’s played some extraordinary innings for England and he scores centuries. He understands how to score hundreds in the domestic game. If you get rid of him now, I think that alters the entire balance of what they’ve built up over the recent years."

Although praising Jacob Bethell as "an incredibly talented player", Cook said: "It would be a big, big gamble [to pick him] because if that doesn’t work where do you move back to, a player you recently discarded? They have committed heavily in people like Ollie Pope and [Crawley that it would seem such a strange thing to make a switch at this stage."

Captaincy Change and Commentary Crew

Pope has been replaced by Harry Brook as the team's deputy skipper but, as per Cook, that will "ease the burden on" the Surrey right-hander.

"The management has acted decisively on that, considering in case of an injury to Ben Stokes, they’ve got a guy in Harry Brook who has led the ODI team and it's evident that he seems to be well suited to it. This will take the pressure off. I don’t think undermine him. I’m sure it will have disappointed him because anytime you get taken off a leadership role it wouldn’t be ideal, but I doubt it undermines him."

Cook will be in the host nation as part of the broadcast team of the Ashes, and will be joined by fellow Ashes winners Finn and Graeme Swann as on-the-ground pundits. The network will offer a dedicated commentary stream but will operate a hybrid model, with commentators Alastair Eykyn and Rob Hatch to work off-site in the UK, while the trio deliver expert analysis from on location. Ebony Rainford-Brent is also part of the broadcast team operating remotely, with the live presentation to be hosted by Becky Ives.