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The war of words before the Ashes continues to heat up, with ex-England paceman Broad declaring that England will face "arguably the weakest Aussie squad since 2010" during their tour this season.

David Warner's Bold Prediction Met With Doubt

Broad's assertion came as a reply to David Warner – a long-time Ashes rival – predicting a 4-0 victory for the hosts. "If the captain [Pat Cummins] doesn’t play, they might win one game," Warner commented.

The Aussies remain undefeated in a Ashes match on home soil after England's series win in the 2010-11 tour. Their 5-0 win three years later – on the back of seven losses in their last nine matches – came before 4-0 series victories in the 2017-18 and 2021-22 campaigns.

Team Uncertainty and Fitness Worries for Australia

However, the top-ranked Test side, who have suffered just a single defeat of their past 13 bilateral series, enter the upcoming assignment with uncertainty over the makeup 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 very, very difficult to triumph on Australian soil as an England side, or any visiting team," said Broad on his podcast. "Australia have to be strong favorites."

"The Aussies face the greatest expectations because they’re expected to win, they’re formidable in home conditions, but they’ve got question marks over their team and concerns over their skipper's condition. It's not unreasonable in thinking – it’s actually not an opinion, it's a reality – it’s probably the worst Australian team since 2010. Meanwhile, it's the strongest English team since 2010. So those things match up to the fact that it’s going to be a brilliant contest."

Parallel to Historic Series

"Australia have been 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 lack that certainty now. It’s very much a similar situation to 2010-11 when England traveled and emerged victorious. The fact of the matter is Australia generally have to be bad to lose in Australia and England must excel. England have a great chance of performing exceptionally and Australia have a decent chance of being bad."

Team Dilemma for England

A key question for England remains their selection at the number three position, with Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell vying for the role. Cook, whose prolific scoring set up the tourists’ series win 15 years ago, believes it would be "strange" for Stokes' team to move away from Ollie Pope, who has been a regular at number three for the last three years.

"I'd select Pope at three," said Cook. "I think it’s a straightforward decision. They have someone who’s been involved in this preparation for three or four years. He’s captained the side, he has delivered remarkable performances for the national side and he’s a hundred-maker. He knows how to make big scores in first-class cricket. If they drop him now, I believe that changes the whole dynamic of what they’ve built up over the recent years."

Although praising Bethell as "a hugely gifted cricketer", Cook said: "It would be a big, big gamble [to pick him] because if that doesn’t work what is the fallback option, a player you recently discarded? They have committed heavily in players such as Pope and [Crawley that it would be highly odd to make a switch at this stage."

Leadership Shift and Commentary Team

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

"They’ve been proactive on that, considering in case of an injury to Stokes, they have a player in Harry Brook who has taken the [captaincy of the] one-day side and it's evident that he appears a natural fit. This will relieve Pope. I believe it won't weaken his position. Certainly it will have hurt him because whenever you're removed from a leadership role it isn't perfect, but I don’t think it undermines him."

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 on-the-ground pundits. The network will provide its own audio feed but will operate a hybrid model, with play-by-play announcers Alastair Eykyn and Hatch to work off-site in the United Kingdom, while the trio provide co-commentary from Australia. Ebony Rainford-Brent is also part of the commentary team working off-site, with the on-ground coverage to be presented by Becky Ives.