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The pre-Ashes verbal sparring continues to heat up, with former England paceman Broad stating that England will face "arguably the weakest Australian team since 2010" on tour this winter.

David Warner's Confident Forecast Met With Doubt

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

Australia have not lost a men’s Ashes match on home soil since England’s 3-1 victory in the 2010-11 tour. The subsequent 5-0 whitewash in the following series – following seven defeats in their previous nine Tests – was followed by 4-0 series victories in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Squad Doubt and Fitness Worries for Australia

However, the top-ranked Test side, who have lost only one of their last thirteen series, approach the forthcoming contest with questions over the makeup of their top order and the health of Cummins, who is doubtful to play in the opening match at Perth because of a back injury.

"It’s very, very difficult to win in Australia as an English team, or any visiting team," said Broad on his podcast. "Australia have to be strong favorites."

"Australia are under the most pressure because they’re anticipated to prevail, they’re brilliant at home, but they’ve got question marks over their team and concerns over their skipper's condition. It's not unreasonable in believing – it’s actually not an opinion, it's a reality – it’s probably the worst Australian team since the 2010 era. Meanwhile, it's the strongest English team in over a decade. These factors match up to the reality that it’s going to be a brilliant contest."

Comparison to 2010-11 Series

"Australia have been so consistent for a prolonged duration that you just knew who was going to open the innings, who was going to bat, what bowlers there were, and they lack that certainty now. It’s very much a similar situation to the 2010-11 period when England traveled and emerged victorious. The reality is the Aussies typically need to underperform to lose in Australia and England must excel. England have a great chance of being very good and the Australians face a real possibility of underperforming."

Team Dilemma for England

A major issue for England remains their choice at No 3, with Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell vying for the role. 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 move away from Ollie Pope, who has been a regular at number three for the last three years.

"I'd select Pope at number three," said Cook. "In my view it’s a straightforward decision. You’ve got a player who has been involved in this preparation for three or four years. He’s captained the side, he’s played remarkable performances 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 believe that changes the whole dynamic of the foundation they've established over the last few years."

While hailing Jacob Bethell as "an incredibly talented player", Cook said: "It would represent a major risk [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 Ollie Pope and [Zak] Crawley that it would be such a strange thing to make a switch at this stage."

Leadership Change and Broadcast Team

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

"They’ve been proactive on that, thinking if there is an injury to Ben Stokes, they have a player in Harry Brook who has taken the [captaincy of the] one-day side and everyone has seen that he seems to be a natural fit. This will relieve Pope. I don’t think weaken his position. Certainly it will have disappointed him because anytime you get taken off a leadership thing it wouldn’t be ideal, but I doubt it diminishes his standing."

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 Swann as in-studio analysts. The channel will offer a dedicated commentary stream but will use a mixed approach, with commentators Alastair 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 live presentation to be presented by Ives.