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The war of words before the Ashes continues to heat up, with ex-England paceman Stuart Broad declaring that the English side will confront "probably the worst Australian team since 2010" on tour this winter.

Warner's Confident Forecast Met With Doubt

Broad's assertion came as a reply to Warner – a long-time Ashes rival – predicting a clean sweep for the hosts. "Should the skipper [Pat Cummins] be absent, they could perhaps snatch a single victory," Warner said.

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

Team Doubt and Injury Worries for Australia

However, the top-ranked Test team, who have lost only one of their last thirteen series, approach the forthcoming contest with uncertainty over the composition of their batting lineup and the fitness of Cummins, who is doubtful to play in the opening match at Perth because of a back issue.

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

"The Aussies face the greatest expectations because they’re anticipated to prevail, they’re formidable in home conditions, but they’ve got doubts over their squad and concerns over their captain’s fitness. 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. And it’s the best English team since 2010. 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 highly stable for a long period of time that you just knew who would open the innings, who would bat, which bowlers were available, and they don’t have that. It’s very much a comparable scenario to 2010-11 when England went and won there. The fact of the matter 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 Australia have a decent chance of being bad."

Selection Decision for the Visitors

A key question for the English camp remains their choice at No 3, with Pope and Jacob Bethell vying for the role. Alastair Cook, whose 766 runs paved the way for the visitors' series victory 15 years ago, thinks it would be "strange" for Ben Stokes’ side to abandon Pope, who has been a regular at first drop for the last three years.

"I would bat Pope at three," Cook stated. "In my view it’s quite an easy decision. They have a player who has been involved in this preparation for several years. He has led the team, 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 alters the entire balance of what they’ve built up over the recent years."

While hailing Jacob Bethell as "a hugely gifted cricketer", 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 players such as Ollie Pope and [Crawley that it would seem such a strange thing to make a switch at this stage."

Captaincy Shift and Commentary Team

Ollie Pope has been succeeded by Brook as England’s vice-captain 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 everyone has seen that he appears well suited to it. 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 don’t think it undermines him."

Cook will be in the host nation as part of the broadcast team of the Ashes, and will be joined by former Ashes champions Finn and Graeme Swann as on-the-ground pundits. The network will provide its own audio feed but will use a mixed approach, with commentators Alastair Eykyn and Rob Hatch to work off-site in the UK, while the trio deliver expert analysis from Australia. Ebony Rainford-Brent is also part of the broadcast team operating remotely, with the on-ground coverage to be hosted by Ives.