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The pre-Ashes verbal sparring continues to heat up, with ex-England paceman Stuart Broad stating that England will confront "probably the worst Australian team in over a decade" during their tour this season.

David Warner's Confident Forecast Met With Doubt

Broad's assertion was in response to Warner – an Ashes foe of Broad’s – forecasting a 4-0 victory for the hosts. "If the captain [Pat Cummins] doesn’t play, they might win one game," Warner commented.

The Aussies remain undefeated in a men’s Ashes match on home soil since England’s series win in 2010-11. The subsequent 5-0 whitewash in the following series – on the back of seven defeats in their last nine matches – was followed by 4-0 Ashes triumphs in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Squad Doubt and Fitness Worries for Australia

Yet, the No 1-ranked Test side, who have lost only one of their last thirteen series, enter the upcoming assignment with questions over the makeup of their batting lineup and the health of Pat Cummins, who is unlikely to feature in the first Test at the Perth stadium because of a back issue.

"It's extremely challenging to win in Australia as an England side, or any side," Broad remarked during his podcast. "The Australians are massive favourites."

"The Aussies face the most pressure because they’re anticipated to prevail, they’re brilliant at home, but they’ve got doubts over their team and question marks over their captain’s fitness. You wouldn’t be outlandish in believing – it’s actually not an opinion, it’s a fact – 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 point towards the reality that it’s going to be a brilliant Ashes series."

Comparison to 2010-11 Series

"The Australians have remained so consistent for a prolonged duration that you just knew who would open the innings, who would bat, which bowlers were available, and they lack that certainty now. It closely resembles a similar situation to the 2010-11 period when England went and won there. The reality is the Aussies typically need to underperform to lose in Australia and England must excel. The English have a solid opportunity of being very good and the Australians face a real possibility of underperforming."

Team Decision for the Visitors

A major issue for England remains their choice at the number three position, with Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell contesting the spot. Cook, whose prolific scoring paved the way for the tourists’ series win over a decade past, believes it would be "strange" for Stokes' team to abandon Pope, who has been a consistent at number three for the past three seasons.

"I would bat Ollie Pope at number three," said Cook. "I think it’s a straightforward decision. They have a player who has been part of this buildup for several years. He’s captained the side, he has delivered remarkable performances for England and he scores centuries. He understands how to make big scores in first-class cricket. If you get rid of him now, I think that changes the whole dynamic of what they’ve built up over the recent years."

While hailing Bethell as "a hugely gifted cricketer", Cook added: "It would be a major risk [to pick him] because should it fail what is the fallback option, a player you recently discarded? They have committed heavily in people like Pope and [Zak] Crawley that it would be highly odd to make a switch at this stage."

Leadership Shift and Broadcast Team

Ollie Pope has been succeeded by Harry Brook as England’s vice-captain but, according to Cook, that will "ease the burden on" the Surrey right-hander.

"The management has acted decisively on that, thinking in case of an injury to Ben Stokes, they’ve got a guy in Harry Brook who has led the ODI team and it's evident that he appears well suited to it. That will just relieve Pope. I believe it won't weaken his position. I’m sure it will have disappointed him because whenever you're removed from a leadership thing 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 accompanied by fellow Ashes winners Finn and Swann as on-the-ground pundits. The network will provide its own audio feed but will use a mixed approach, with play-by-play announcers Alastair Eykyn and Rob Hatch to work off-site in the UK, while the trio provide co-commentary from Australia. Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the on-ground coverage to be presented by Ives.