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The war of words before the Ashes continues to heat up, with ex-England paceman Broad declaring that England will confront "probably the worst Australian team in over a decade" on tour this season.

David Warner's Confident Forecast Answered by Doubt

Broad's assertion came as a reply to David Warner – an Ashes foe of Broad’s – predicting a clean sweep for the hosts. "Should the skipper [Pat Cummins] be absent, they could perhaps snatch a single victory," Warner said.

Australia have not lost a Ashes match at home after England's 3-1 victory in 2010-11. Their 5-0 win three years later – on the back of seven losses in their last nine matches – was followed by 4-0 series victories in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

Squad Doubt and Injury Worries for the Hosts

However, the No 1-ranked Test team, who have lost only one of their past 13 bilateral 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 Perth because of a back issue.

"It's extremely challenging to win in Australia as an English team, or any visiting team," said Broad on his podcast. "Australia have to be strong favorites."

"The Aussies face the greatest expectations because they’re anticipated to prevail, they’re brilliant at home, but they’ve got doubts over their team and concerns over their skipper's condition. You wouldn’t be outlandish in thinking – this isn't merely a view, it’s a fact – it’s probably the weakest Aussie lineup since 2010. Meanwhile, it's the strongest English team in over a decade. These factors match up to the reality that it’s going to be a brilliant Ashes series."

Comparison to Historic Series

"Australia have been so consistent for a long period of time that you just knew who would open the innings, who would bat, what bowlers there were, and they lack that certainty now. It closely resembles a similar situation to 2010-11 when England traveled and emerged victorious. The fact of the matter 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 Australia have a decent chance of being bad."

Team Decision for the Visitors

A major issue for England remains their choice at No 3, with Ollie Pope and Bethell vying for the role. Alastair Cook, whose 766 runs paved the way for the visitors' series victory over a decade past, believes it would be "unusual" for Stokes' team to abandon Pope, who has been a consistent at first drop for the last three years.

"I would bat Ollie Pope at number three," Cook stated. "In my view it’s quite an easy decision. They have a player who has been involved in this preparation for three or four years. He has led the team, he’s played some extraordinary innings for the national side and he’s a hundred-maker. He understands how to make big scores in the domestic game. If you get rid of him now, I think that alters the entire balance of what they’ve built up over the last few years."

While hailing Bethell as "an incredibly talented player", Cook said: "It would be a major risk [to pick him] because if that doesn’t work what is the fallback option, someone you’ve just got rid of? They’ve invested so much in players such as Pope and [Crawley that it would seem such a strange thing to change it now."

Leadership Change and Broadcast Crew

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

"They’ve been proactive on that, considering in case of an injury to Stokes, they’ve got a guy in Brook who has led the ODI team and it's evident that he appears a natural fit. That will just take the pressure off. I don’t think weaken his position. Certainly it will have disappointed him because whenever you're removed from a leadership thing it isn't perfect, but I doubt it diminishes his standing."

Alastair Cook will be in Australia as part of the broadcast team of the series, and will be accompanied by former Ashes champions Steven Finn and Graeme Swann as in-studio analysts. The channel will offer a dedicated commentary stream but will use a mixed approach, with play-by-play announcers Alastair Eykyn and Hatch to work off-site in the UK, while Cook, Finn and Swann deliver expert analysis from Australia. Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the on-ground coverage to be presented by Becky Ives.