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The war of words before the Ashes continues to heat up, with former England bowler Stuart Broad stating that England will face "arguably the weakest Aussie squad since 2010" on tour this winter.

Warner's Bold Prediction Answered by Doubt

Broad's assertion came as a reply to Warner – an Ashes foe of Broad’s – predicting a clean sweep for the home side. "If the captain [Pat Cummins] doesn’t play, they might win one game," Warner commented.

Australia have not lost a men’s Ashes match at home since England’s series win in 2010-11. Their 5-0 win three years later – following seven defeats in their previous nine Tests – was followed by 4-0 Ashes triumphs in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Squad Uncertainty and Fitness Worries for the Hosts

Yet, the top-ranked Test team, who have suffered just a single defeat of their past 13 bilateral series, approach the forthcoming contest with uncertainty over the makeup of their batting lineup and the fitness of Pat Cummins, who is doubtful to play in the opening match at the Perth stadium because of a back issue.

"It's extremely challenging to win in Australia as an English team, or any visiting team," Broad remarked on his podcast. "Australia have to be strong favorites."

"Australia are under the greatest expectations because they’re expected to win, they’re formidable in home conditions, but they’ve got question marks over their squad and concerns over their captain’s fitness. You wouldn’t be outlandish in believing – it’s actually not an opinion, it's a reality – 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 reality that it’s going to be a brilliant Ashes series."

Parallel to Historic Tour

"The Australians have remained highly stable for a prolonged duration that it was clear who was going to open the innings, who was going to bat, which bowlers were available, and they don’t have that. It’s very much a comparable scenario 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. England have a great chance of performing exceptionally and the Australians face a real possibility of being bad."

Selection Decision for the Visitors

A key question for the English camp remains their selection at the number three position, with Pope and Jacob Bethell contesting the spot. Alastair Cook, whose 766 runs paved the way for the tourists’ series win over a decade past, believes it would be "unusual" for Stokes' team to move away from Pope, who has been a consistent at number three for the last three years.

"I'd select Pope at three," said Cook. "In my view it’s a straightforward decision. They have a player who has been involved in this preparation for several years. He’s captained the side, he has delivered remarkable performances for the national side and he scores centuries. He understands how to make big scores in the domestic game. If they drop him now, I believe that changes the whole dynamic of the foundation they've established over the last few years."

Although praising Bethell as "an incredibly talented player", Cook added: "It would be a major risk [to pick him] because if that doesn’t work what is the fallback option, someone you’ve just got rid of? They’ve invested so much in players such as Ollie Pope and [Crawley that it would seem such a strange thing to change it now."

Leadership Change and Broadcast Team

Ollie Pope has been succeeded by Harry Brook as the team's deputy skipper but, as per Cook, that will "ease the burden on" the Surrey batsman.

"They’ve been proactive on that, thinking if there is an injury to Stokes, they have a player in Harry Brook who has led the ODI team and it's evident that he seems to be well suited to it. This will relieve Pope. I believe it won't weaken his position. I’m sure it will have hurt him because whenever you're removed from a leadership thing it wouldn’t be ideal, but I don’t think it diminishes his standing."

Cook will be in Australia as part of TNT’s coverage of the Ashes, and will be accompanied by fellow Ashes winners Finn and Graeme Swann as on-the-ground pundits. The channel will provide its own audio feed but will operate a hybrid model, with commentators Eykyn and Rob Hatch to work off-site in the UK, while Cook, Finn and Swann deliver expert analysis from Australia. Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the on-ground coverage to be hosted by Ives.