Australia are heading into the Ashes with their worst team in over a decade and all the pressure will be on the hosts when the five-match series begins next month, former England bowler Stuart Broad said.
England last won the Ashes in 2015 and have not won in Australia since 2011, with Australia winning their last three home series 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0.
Australia will once again be favourites, but they have suffered a significant setback with captain Pat Cummins saying on Monday that he was more likely than not to miss the first Ashes Test.
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“It’s very, very difficult to win in Australia as an England side, or any side - it just is. Australia have to be massive favourites,” Broad said in an episode of his ‘For The Love Of Cricket’ podcast released on Tuesday.
“The question really is ‘which team’s under the most pressure?’ 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 captain’s fitness.
“It’s actually not an opinion, it’s 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, who retired from playing after the Ashes series in England in 2023 when Australia kept hold of the urn with a 2-2 draw, pointed to the uncertainty over the hosts’ lineup as another factor that could tilt the balance of power.
“Australia have been so consistent for a long period of time,” said Broad, who has long been cast as a villain in Australia over his refusal to walk after edging a ball to slip during a Test match at Trent Bridge in 2013.
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“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. 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.”
The first Test starts on November 21 in Perth.
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