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The pre-Ashes verbal sparring is escalating further, with ex-England bowler Broad declaring that England will face "arguably the weakest Australian team since 2010" during their tour this season.

David Warner's Bold Prediction Met With Skepticism

Broad's assertion came as a reply to David Warner – a long-time Ashes rival – 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 after England's series win in 2010-11. The subsequent 5-0 whitewash three years later – on the back of seven defeats in their last nine matches – was followed by 4-0 series victories in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Squad Doubt and Fitness Worries for the Hosts

Yet, the No 1-ranked Test side, who have suffered just a single defeat of their past 13 bilateral series, enter the upcoming assignment with uncertainty over the composition of their batting lineup and the health of 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 English team, or any visiting team," Broad remarked on his podcast. "Australia have to be massive favourites."

"The Aussies face the most pressure because they’re expected to win, they’re formidable in home conditions, but they’ve got doubts over their squad and concerns over their skipper's condition. It's not unreasonable in believing – this isn't merely a view, it’s a fact – it’s probably the weakest Aussie lineup since 2010. Meanwhile, it's the strongest England squad since 2010. These factors point towards the reality that it’s going to be a thrilling Ashes series."

Parallel to Historic Tour

"The Australians have remained so consistent for a prolonged duration that you just knew who was going to open the batting, who would bat, which bowlers were available, and they don’t have that. It closely resembles a similar situation to the 2010-11 period 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. England have a great chance of being very good and Australia have a decent chance of being bad."

Selection Dilemma for the Visitors

A key question for the English camp remains their choice at the number three position, with Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell vying for the role. Cook, whose prolific scoring paved the way for the visitors' series victory over a decade past, thinks it would be "strange" for Ben Stokes’ side to abandon Pope, who has been a regular at number three for the past three seasons.

"I'd select Pope at number three," said Cook. "In my view it’s a straightforward decision. You’ve got a player who has been part of this buildup for several years. He’s captained the side, he has delivered some extraordinary innings for England and he’s a hundred-maker. He understands how to score hundreds in first-class cricket. If you get rid of him now, I think 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 major risk [to pick him] because if that doesn’t work what is the fallback option, a player you recently discarded? They’ve invested so much in people like Pope and [Crawley that it would seem such a strange thing to change it now."

Leadership Change and Broadcast Team

Ollie Pope has been replaced by Harry Brook as England’s vice-captain but, as per Cook, that will "take the pressure off" the Surrey right-hander.

"They’ve been proactive on that, thinking if there is an injury to Ben Stokes, they have a player in Brook who has led the ODI team and everyone has seen that he seems to be well suited to it. This will relieve Pope. I don’t think undermine him. Certainly it will have hurt him because whenever you're removed from a leadership role it wouldn’t be ideal, but I doubt it diminishes his standing."

Cook will be in Australia as part of TNT’s coverage of the Ashes, and will be joined by former Ashes champions Steven Finn and Swann as in-studio analysts. The channel will provide its own audio feed but will operate a hybrid model, with play-by-play announcers Eykyn and Hatch based remotely in the United Kingdom, while the trio deliver expert analysis from Australia. Ebony Rainford-Brent is also part of the broadcast team working off-site, with the live presentation to be hosted by Becky Ives.