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The war of words before the Ashes is escalating further, with ex-England bowler Stuart Broad declaring that England will confront "arguably the weakest Aussie squad since 2010" during their tour this season.

Warner's Confident Forecast Met With Doubt

The former England bowler's claim came as a reply to David Warner – a long-time Ashes rival – forecasting a clean sweep for the home side. "Should the skipper [Pat Cummins] be absent, they could perhaps snatch a single victory," Warner commented.

The Aussies remain undefeated in a men’s Ashes match at home after England's 3-1 victory in the 2010-11 tour. Their 5-0 win in the following series – on the back of seven losses in their previous nine Tests – came before 4-0 series victories in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Squad Doubt and Injury Concerns for Australia

Yet, the No 1-ranked Test side, who have lost only one of their last thirteen series, approach the forthcoming contest with uncertainty over the makeup of their batting lineup and the health of Cummins, who is doubtful to play in the opening match at the Perth stadium because of a back injury.

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

"Australia are under the most pressure because they’re anticipated to prevail, they’re brilliant at home, but they’ve got doubts over their squad and question marks over their captain’s fitness. You wouldn’t be outlandish in believing – this isn't merely a view, it's a reality – it is likely the worst Australian team since the 2010 era. Meanwhile, it's the strongest English team since 2010. So those things match up to the fact that it’s going to be a thrilling contest."

Comparison to Historic Tour

"Australia have been so consistent for a long period of time that you just knew who would open the batting, who would bat, what bowlers there were, and they lack that certainty now. It’s very much a comparable scenario to 2010-11 when England traveled and emerged victorious. The reality is Australia generally have to be bad to lose in Australia and England have to be very good. The English have a solid opportunity of being very good and Australia have a decent chance of underperforming."

Selection Dilemma for England

A major issue for England remains their choice at No 3, with Pope and Jacob Bethell vying for the role. Cook, whose 766 runs set up the visitors' series victory over a decade past, thinks it would be "unusual" for Stokes' team to move away from Pope, who has been a consistent at number three for the past three seasons.

"I'd select Ollie Pope at three," said Cook. "In my view it’s quite an easy choice. They have someone who’s been involved in this preparation for three or four years. He has led the team, he’s played remarkable performances for England and he scores centuries. He understands how to make big scores in the domestic game. If you get rid of him now, I think that changes the whole dynamic of what they’ve built up over the last few years."

While hailing Jacob Bethell as "an incredibly talented player", Cook added: "It would represent 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 Ollie Pope and [Zak] Crawley that it would be highly odd to make a switch at this stage."

Captaincy Change and Broadcast Crew

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

"The management has acted decisively on that, thinking if there is an injury to Stokes, they’ve got a guy in Brook who has taken the [captaincy of the] one-day side and it's evident that he appears a natural fit. That will just relieve Pope. I believe it won't undermine him. Certainly it will have hurt him because whenever you're removed from a leadership role it wouldn’t be ideal, but I don’t think it diminishes his standing."

Alastair Cook will be in Australia as part of the broadcast team of the Ashes, and will be accompanied by fellow Ashes winners Steven Finn and Swann as on-the-ground pundits. The network will provide its own audio feed but will operate a hybrid model, with commentators Eykyn and Hatch based remotely in the UK, while Cook, Finn and Swann deliver expert analysis from on location. Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the on-ground coverage to be hosted by Becky Ives.