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The pre-Ashes verbal sparring is escalating further, with ex-England paceman Stuart Broad declaring that the English side will confront "arguably the weakest Australian team since 2010" during their tour this winter.

David Warner's Bold Prediction Met With Skepticism

The former England bowler's claim came as a reply to David Warner – a long-time Ashes rival – predicting a clean sweep for the home side. "If the captain [Pat Cummins] doesn’t play, they might win one game," Warner said.

The Aussies remain undefeated in a Ashes match at home since England’s 3-1 victory in 2010-11. Their 5-0 win three years later – on the back of seven defeats in their last nine matches – was followed by 4-0 series victories in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Squad Doubt and Injury Worries for Australia

Yet, the top-ranked Test side, who have suffered just a single defeat of their last thirteen series, enter the upcoming assignment with uncertainty over the makeup of their batting lineup and the fitness of Cummins, who is unlikely to feature in the opening match at the Perth stadium because of a back injury.

"It’s very, very difficult to win in Australia as an English team, or any visiting team," said Broad during his podcast. "The Australians are strong favorites."

"Australia are under the most pressure because they’re expected to win, they’re brilliant at home, but they’ve got doubts over their team and question marks over their captain’s fitness. It's not unreasonable in thinking – this isn't merely a view, it's a reality – it’s probably the worst Australian team since the 2010 era. And it’s the best English team since 2010. So those things point towards the reality that it’s going to be a brilliant Ashes series."

Parallel to Historic Series

"Australia have been highly stable for a long period of time that it was clear who was going to open the innings, who was going to bat, what bowlers there were, and they don’t have that. It’s very much a similar situation to the 2010-11 period when England went and won there. The reality is Australia generally have to be bad to lose in Australia 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."

Selection Dilemma for the Visitors

A key question for the English camp remains their selection at the number three position, with Ollie Pope and Bethell contesting the spot. Cook, whose prolific scoring paved the way for the tourists’ series win 15 years ago, thinks it would be "unusual" for Ben Stokes’ side to abandon Pope, who has been a consistent at number three for the last three years.

"I would bat Ollie Pope at three," Cook stated. "I think it’s a straightforward choice. You’ve got someone who’s been involved in this preparation for several years. He has led the team, he’s played some extraordinary innings for England and he scores centuries. He knows how to score hundreds in first-class cricket. If they drop him now, I believe that alters the entire balance of what they’ve built up over the last few years."

Although praising Bethell as "a hugely gifted cricketer", Cook said: "It would be a big, big gamble [to pick him] because should it fail what is the fallback option, a player you recently discarded? They’ve invested so much in people like Pope and [Zak] Crawley that it would seem highly odd to change it now."

Captaincy Change and Commentary Crew

Ollie Pope has been succeeded by Harry Brook as England’s vice-captain but, according to Cook, that will "take the pressure off" the Surrey batsman.

"They’ve been proactive on that, thinking if there is an injury to Ben Stokes, they have a player in Brook who has led the ODI team and it's evident that he seems to be well suited to it. That will just take the pressure off. I don’t think weaken his position. Certainly it will have disappointed him because anytime you get taken off a leadership role it wouldn’t be ideal, but I don’t think it undermines him."

Cook will be in Australia as part of the broadcast team of the Ashes, and will be joined by fellow Ashes winners Finn and Swann as in-studio analysts. The channel will provide its own audio feed but will operate a hybrid model, with play-by-play announcers Alastair Eykyn and Hatch based remotely in the United Kingdom, while the trio deliver expert analysis from on location. Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the on-ground coverage to be hosted by Becky Ives.