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The pre-Ashes verbal sparring continues to heat up, with ex-England bowler Stuart Broad stating that the English side will confront "probably the worst Australian team since 2010" during their tour this winter.

David Warner's Confident Forecast Met With Skepticism

Broad's assertion came as a reply to David Warner – an Ashes foe of Broad’s – forecasting a clean sweep for the home side. "Should the skipper [Pat Cummins] be absent, they could perhaps snatch a single victory," Warner said.

The Aussies remain undefeated in a men’s Ashes match at home since England’s series win in the 2010-11 tour. The subsequent 5-0 whitewash three years later – following seven losses in their previous nine Tests – came before 4-0 series victories in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Squad Doubt and Injury Worries for Australia

However, the No 1-ranked Test team, who have suffered just a single defeat of their past 13 bilateral series, approach the forthcoming contest with uncertainty over the composition of their batting lineup and the fitness of Cummins, who is unlikely to feature in the opening match at Perth because of a back issue.

"It's extremely challenging to win in Australia as an England side, or any visiting team," Broad remarked during his podcast. "Australia have to be massive favourites."

"Australia are under the greatest expectations because they’re expected to win, they’re brilliant at home, but they’ve got question marks over their team and question marks over their captain’s fitness. It's not unreasonable in believing – it’s actually not an opinion, it's a reality – it is likely the weakest Aussie lineup since the 2010 era. And it’s the best English team in over a decade. So those things match up to the fact that it’s going to be a thrilling Ashes series."

Parallel to Historic Tour

"Australia have been so consistent for a long period of time that it was clear who would open the batting, who was going to bat, what bowlers there were, and they lack that certainty now. It’s very much a comparable scenario to the 2010-11 period when England went and won there. The fact of the matter is the Aussies typically need to underperform to lose in Australia and England have to be very good. England have a great chance of being very good and the Australians face a real possibility of being bad."

Team Dilemma for the Visitors

A key question for the English camp remains their selection at No 3, with Ollie Pope and Bethell contesting the spot. Cook, whose 766 runs paved the way for the visitors' series victory 15 years ago, believes it would be "unusual" for Stokes' team to abandon Pope, who has been a regular at first drop for the last three years.

"I would bat Pope at number three," Cook stated. "I think it’s a straightforward decision. They have someone who’s been involved in this preparation for several years. He’s captained the side, he has delivered some extraordinary innings for England and he’s a hundred-maker. He knows how to score hundreds in first-class cricket. If you get rid of him now, I think that changes the whole dynamic of the foundation they've established over the recent years."

Although praising Bethell as "a hugely gifted cricketer", Cook added: "It would be a big, big gamble [to pick him] because should it fail where do you move back to, someone you’ve just got rid of? They have committed heavily in people like Pope and [Crawley that it would be such a strange thing to make a switch at this stage."

Captaincy Change and Broadcast Crew

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

"The management has acted decisively on that, considering in case of an injury to 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 well suited to it. That will just relieve Pope. I believe it won't 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 don’t think it undermines him."

Cook will be in the host nation as part of TNT’s coverage of the series, and will be joined by former Ashes champions Finn and Swann as on-the-ground pundits. The channel will provide its own audio feed but will operate a hybrid model, with play-by-play announcers Eykyn and Rob Hatch to work off-site in the United Kingdom, while Cook, Finn and Swann 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.