Ashes: England advantage as woes mount for ‘worst Australia team since 2010’?

It’s usually England who have the big questions leading up to an Ashes series.

Will the batting be too shaky? Will there be enough poison in the bowling attack? Will they avoid Australia legend Glenn McGrath’s prediction of a 5-0 defeat (always 5-0)?

Over the last three outings, the batting has proven too shaky and the bowling lacked venom, but England have only suffered one 5-0 loss in that time, in 2013/14 – “escaping” with marginally more palatable 4-0 defeats in 2017/18 and 2021/22.

Draws in Melbourne eight years ago, when Sir Alastair Cook scored twice on the mildest of pitches, and in Sydney just over four years ago, when last-wicket pairing Stuart Broad and James Anderson beat the last two overs, preventing a 5-0 sweep.

Those predicaments at the MCG and SCG seemed like minor victories at the time for England but this time the only win will come is a first series victory in these parts since Sir Andrew Strauss’s class of 2010/11 – because it seems so possible.

England are playing, as Broad put it, “probably the worst Australian team since 2010,” adding while speaking to a BBC podcast. For the love of cricket: “I don’t think anyone can argue that this isn’t their weakest team. It’s just a fact.”

Broad is ‘probably’ right, though that’s mainly because previous iterations of the side – ones with David Warner dazzling at the top of the order, Steve Smith getting out in that unique way and a relentless bowling unit – have been brilliant.

It would be unwise to write Australia off, of course, with plenty of time for that English optimism to fade before the series opens in Perth from November 21, but problems are mounting for a nation that has had an iron grip on the urn since 2017/18.

Latency concerns and upper system struggles

These issues used to be largely limited to the batting – we don’t seem any closer to knowing the exact composition of the top three – but now there is concern about bowling spearhead and skipper Pat Cummins.

Great concern.

He has not played since July due to a back injury and considers himself “unlikely” to be fit for the Perth Test. There is talk in Australia – even if it is just to give England a hard line – that Cummins could miss the entire series. That would be a giant hit.

Not only will Australia be deprived of their leader and a complete bowler, but they will also be deprived of a useful run at number eight. We only need to go back to the first Test of the 2023 Ashes at Edgbaston, when Cummins led his men to a nerve-wracking victory, to see how important that was.

The dependable Scott Bolland would be a capable deputy as the speedy third MP alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood but beyond that?

The age of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood, all now in their 30s, means other Australia players are short or devoid of Test experience, while some (Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson) are currently injured.

Back to batting It was a horror display for the top three during the 3-0 win in the West Indies in June and July, with Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas and Cameron Green managing just one fifty between them – Green hitting that one in Grenada.

It seems likely that the 38-year-old Khawaja, who has averaged over 30 in Tests since January 2024, and Green retain their places, but who to partner Khawaja at the top of the order is still up for debate – and there is not really a standout candidate.

Marnus Labuschagne may have returned to form after centuries in domestic cricket but he will be out of position as the opener. No. 3 is his bread and butter.

Other options are young and promising (Constas, Campbell-Kellaway), have had success but haven’t made it (Cameron Bancroft, Nathan McSweeney, Marcus Harris) or have domestic experience but have not been tested internationally (Jake Weatherald, Henry Hunt).

Will England continue to support the Pope or will it take a ‘big gamble’?

England have far fewer decisions to make, and the key one to choose is the No. 3 – either the player with the ball in Ollie Pope or the next man over in Jacob Bethell.

Cook, who will be a TNT sports analyst for the series, backed Pope, saying it would be a “pretty big gamble” and “weird” to get rid of a player entrenched in the setup and risk disrupting the “dynamic” that has been built. We wait to see if England agrees.

And while they think about it, there appears to be encouraging news about the fitness of legendary skipper Ben Stokes and star pacer Mark Wood as they recover from shoulder and knee problems respectively, with Brydon Carse saying his team-mates are close to “100 per cent”.

Kidology or not from Carse, it adds to the positive vibe around the England camp when the opposite seems to be true for the hosts and you get the feeling that Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer etc will be licking their lips at the prospect of getting involved in Australia’s fragile standings.

England fans should not delude themselves into thinking it will be easy: Lord Ian Botham has criticized simplistic preparations which he feels ‘border on arrogance’ We know all too well what could happen if things start to go wrong on an Ashes tour.

Warner also weighed in, saying that despite Cummins’ fitness concerns and potential batting weaknesses, Australia would win the series 4-0 because England would be so interested in a “moral victory”.

But it seems that “actual victory” can be achieved here. What did “probably the worst Australian team since 2010” get in response?

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26

All times in the UK and Ireland

First test: Friday, November 21 – Tuesday, November 25 (2.30am) – Optus Stadium, Perth
Second test (day/night): Thursday 4 December – Monday 8 December (4.30am) – The Gabba, Brisbane
Third test: Wednesday, December 17 – Sunday, December 21 (12 am) – Adelaide Oval
Fourth test: Thursday 25 December – Monday 29 December (11.30 pm) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
Fifth test: Sunday, January 4 – Thursday, January 8 (11.30 pm) – Sydney Cricket Ground