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

Warner's Bold Prediction Answered by Doubt

Broad's assertion came as a reply to Warner – an Ashes foe of Broad’s – predicting a clean sweep for the home side. "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 after England's 3-1 victory in the 2010-11 tour. The subsequent 5-0 whitewash in the following series – on the back of seven defeats in their last nine matches – came before 4-0 series victories in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Team Doubt and Injury Worries for Australia

Yet, the No 1-ranked Test team, who have lost only one 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 opening match 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 on his podcast. "The Australians are strong favorites."

"The Aussies face the greatest expectations because they’re expected to win, they’re brilliant at home, but they’ve got doubts over their team and question marks over their skipper's condition. It's not unreasonable in believing – this isn't merely a view, it's a reality – it is likely the weakest Aussie lineup since 2010. And it’s the best England squad in over a decade. So those things match up to the reality that it’s going to be a thrilling Ashes series."

Parallel to 2010-11 Series

"Australia have been so consistent for a prolonged duration that it was clear who would open the batting, who would bat, what bowlers there were, and they don’t have that. 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 performing exceptionally and Australia have a decent chance of being bad."

Selection Decision for England

A major issue for the English camp remains their selection at No 3, with Ollie Pope and Bethell vying for the role. Cook, whose prolific scoring paved the way for the visitors' series victory 15 years ago, thinks it would be "strange" for Stokes' team to move away from Pope, who has been a regular at number three for the last three years.

"I'd select Pope at number three," said Cook. "I think it’s a straightforward decision. They have a player who has been involved in this preparation 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 they drop him now, I think that alters the entire balance of the foundation they've established over the last few years."

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

Captaincy Change and Broadcast Team

Pope has been replaced by Brook as England’s vice-captain but, as per Cook, that will "ease the burden on" the Surrey batsman.

"The management has acted decisively on that, considering if there is an injury to 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 don’t think weaken his position. 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."

Cook will be in Australia as part of the broadcast team of the Ashes, and will be joined by fellow Ashes winners Finn and Graeme Swann as in-studio analysts. The network will offer a dedicated commentary stream but will operate a hybrid model, with play-by-play announcers Eykyn and Rob Hatch based remotely in the UK, while Cook, Finn and Swann provide co-commentary from Australia. Ebony Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the live presentation to be presented by Ives.