'Just a fact': Former England quick Stuart Broad labels Australia's Ashes team 'worst since 2010'

Former England bowler Stuart Broad hit back at David Warner's Ashes prediction by declaring Australia have their "worst team since 2010."

England has not won an Ashes series in Australia in over a decade, with Warner predicting the pain will continue, tipping a 4-0 series win earlier this week.

But Broad, who retired from playing after the Ashes series in England in 2023, when Australia retained the urn with a 2-2 draw, believes the Australian team is not as dangerous as previous years.

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"It's very, very difficult to win in Australia as an England side, or any side - it just is," Broad told the BBC.

"Australia have to be massive favourites. The question really was 'Which team's under the most pressure?' Well, Australia are under the most pressure because they're expected to win. They're brilliant at home.

"But they've got question marks over their team and question marks over [the fitness of] captain [Pat Cummins]."

He added: "You wouldn't be outlandish in thinking - it's actually not an opinion, it's a fact - it's probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won, and it's the best English team since 2010.

"So those things match up to the fact it's going to be a brilliant Ashes series."

Broad also pointed to injuries playing a pivotal role in the series, with five Tests in seven weeks.

"Australia have been so consistent for a long period of time that you just knew who was going to open the batting, who was going to bat where, what bowlers there were - and they don't have that," he said.

"It's very much a similar situation to 2010-2011 when England went and won there.

"The fact of the matter is Australia generally have to be bad to lose in Australia 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.

"I don't think anyone could argue that it's their weakest team since 2010... it's just a fact."

England have not won an Ashes test match in Australia for nearly 15 years but their batting firepower could prove decisive in the series starting in Perth next month, according to former captain Alastair Cook.

That 2010-11 series ended in a 3-1 England victory with Cook scoring 766 runs including three centuries, but since then it has been a tale of woe Down Under for England with Australia winning 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0.

"We'd be naive to say Australia aren't favourites," the 40-year-old Cook said.

"But the way this England side plays you think they've got a really good chance. Look at the batting lineup, England's top seven. On their day they score runs at a tempo and pace to knock Australia off their lines and lengths.

"Everyone who plays England knows if you're not on it every minute, they can change games in an hour or two."

Unlike Australia's top order following the retirement of Warner, England's almost picks itself and while opener Zak Crawley averages only 31 in Tests, Cook says his partnership with Ben Duckett gives England the ability to dictate matches.

"That's a big competitive advantage the way that England's top order can go hard," said Cook, who was England's highest-ever test run scorer and century-maker when he retired aged 33 in 2018.

"If you look at Australia, (Usman) Khawaja and (Marnus) Labuschagne and maybe one other, that's not a fearful top order in terms of getting on the front foot.

"I think Australia will be so respectful of Crawley and Duckett. Crawley's a different opening batter to what history says you need; very inconsistent and averages 30.

"But on his day he plays innings which I don't think anyone else in the world can play at the top of the order. If he has three or four good days against bowling which should suit him, he is a real danger.

"They're definitely fearful of him. An hour and a half of Duckett and Crawley playing well on a first morning, England build huge momentum."

Asked his opinion on who should bat at three, Cook said England should stick with Ollie Pope rather than Jacob Bethell.

"If you get rid of him now, I think that changes the whole dynamic of what they've built up over the last year, how settled they'll feel for that top seven," Cook said.

"Bethell's an incredible talent, but that's in white-ball cricket. I think it's a big gamble to go with him because if that doesn't work, you then go back to somebody you got rid of."

England's big names will be targeted on and off the field in Australia, but Cook says winding up Stokes may be folly.

"They know what Stokes can do if you poke the bear," Cook said. "I think if there's ever a player in England's history who Australia feared, you put Stokes in that category."

Cook also thinks the pressure could pile up on the hosts.

"If England are in the series after three games, the pressure switches massively to Australia. They don't want to be part of a team which loses the Ashes at home," he said.