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The pre-Ashes verbal sparring continues to heat up, with former England bowler Stuart Broad declaring that England will face "probably the worst Aussie squad since 2010" on tour this season.

Warner's Bold Prediction Answered by Skepticism

Broad's assertion came as a reply to 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 said.

The Aussies remain undefeated in a Ashes match at home since England’s 3-1 victory in 2010-11. The subsequent 5-0 whitewash in the following series – following seven losses in their last nine matches – came before 4-0 series victories in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Squad Doubt and Injury Worries for the Hosts

However, the top-ranked Test team, who have lost only one of their last thirteen series, enter the upcoming assignment with uncertainty over the composition of their batting lineup and the health of Pat Cummins, who is unlikely to feature in the first Test at Perth because of a back injury.

"It’s very, very difficult to win in Australia as an England side, or any side," said Broad during his podcast. "Australia have to be massive favourites."

"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 skipper's condition. You wouldn’t be outlandish in believing – it’s actually not an opinion, it's a reality – it is likely the weakest Aussie lineup since the 2010 era. And it’s the best English team since 2010. So those things match up to the fact that it’s going to be a brilliant contest."

Comparison to 2010-11 Series

"Australia have been highly stable for a long period of time that it was clear who would open the innings, who was going to 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 the Aussies typically need to underperform to lose in Australia and England have to be very good. The English have a solid opportunity of performing exceptionally and the Australians face a real possibility of being bad."

Team Decision for England

A key question for the English camp remains their choice at the number three position, with Pope and Bethell vying for the role. Cook, whose prolific scoring paved the way for the tourists’ series win 15 years ago, believes it would be "strange" for Stokes' team to move away from Pope, who has been a consistent at first drop for the last three years.

"I would bat Pope at three," Cook stated. "In my view it’s quite an easy choice. They have a player who has been involved in this preparation for several years. He’s captained the side, he’s played some extraordinary innings for the national side and he scores centuries. He knows how to make big scores in first-class cricket. If you get rid of him now, I think that changes the whole dynamic of the foundation they've established over the recent years."

Although praising Bethell as "an incredibly talented player", Cook added: "It would be a big, big gamble [to pick him] because should it fail 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."

Captaincy Change and Commentary 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.

"The management has acted decisively on that, thinking if there is an injury to Ben 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 well suited to it. That will just take the pressure off. I don’t think weaken his position. I’m sure it will have disappointed him because anytime you get taken off a leadership thing it wouldn’t be ideal, but I doubt it undermines him."

Cook will be in the host nation as part of the broadcast team of the series, and will be accompanied by fellow Ashes winners Steven Finn and Graeme Swann as in-studio analysts. The network will provide its own audio feed but will use a mixed approach, with play-by-play announcers Eykyn and Hatch to work off-site in the United Kingdom, while Cook, Finn and Swann provide co-commentary from on location. Ebony Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the live presentation to be hosted by Ives.