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The war of words before the Ashes is escalating further, with ex-England bowler Stuart Broad declaring that England will face "arguably the weakest Australian team in over a decade" on tour this season.

David Warner's Confident Forecast Answered by Skepticism

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 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 losses in their previous nine Tests – came before 4-0 Ashes triumphs in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Team Doubt and Injury Worries for Australia

Yet, the top-ranked Test team, 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 fitness of Cummins, who is unlikely to feature in the opening match at Perth because of a back issue.

"It’s very, very difficult to win in Australia as an England side, or any side," 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 question marks over their squad and concerns over their skipper's condition. 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 England squad in over a decade. So those things point towards the fact that it’s going to be a thrilling contest."

Parallel to Historic Tour

"The Australians have remained so consistent for a prolonged duration that it was clear who was going to open the innings, who would bat, what bowlers there were, and they lack that certainty now. It closely resembles a comparable scenario to 2010-11 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 underperforming."

Selection Dilemma for England

A major issue for England remains their choice at No 3, with Pope and Jacob Bethell contesting the spot. Cook, whose 766 runs set up the tourists’ series win over a decade past, thinks it would be "unusual" for Ben Stokes’ side to abandon Pope, who has been a regular at first drop for the last three years.

"I'd select Ollie Pope at number three," said Cook. "In my view it’s a straightforward choice. You’ve got someone who’s been involved in this preparation for several years. He’s captained the side, he’s played 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 believe that changes the whole dynamic of what they’ve built up over the last few years."

While hailing Jacob Bethell as "a hugely gifted cricketer", Cook added: "It would represent a major risk [to pick him] because if that doesn’t work where do you move back to, someone you’ve just got rid of? They’ve invested so much in players such as Pope and [Zak] Crawley that it would seem such a strange thing to make a switch at this stage."

Leadership Shift and Commentary Team

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 right-hander.

"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 everyone has seen that he appears well suited to it. This will take the pressure off. I don’t think undermine him. Certainly it will have hurt him because whenever you're removed from a leadership thing it wouldn’t be ideal, but I doubt 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 Graeme Swann as on-the-ground pundits. The channel will provide its own audio feed but will operate a hybrid model, with commentators Alastair Eykyn and Rob Hatch to work off-site in the United Kingdom, while Cook, Finn and Swann provide co-commentary from Australia. Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the live presentation to be hosted by Becky Ives.