The Ashes: England advantage as problems pile up for ‘worst Australian team since 2010’? | Cricket News

Usually, it’s England who ask the big questions before an away Ashes series.

Will the fleece prove too brittle? Will there be enough venom in the bowling attack? Will they avoid Australian legend Glenn McGrath’s prediction of a 5-0 defeat (still 5-0)?

Over the last three trips the batting has proved too fragile and the bowling has lacked venom, but England have suffered just one 5-0 defeat in that period, in 2013/14 – ‘escaping’ with slightly tastier 4-0 drubbings in 2017/18 and 2021/22.

Draws in Melbourne eight years ago, when Sir Alastair Cook scored a double ton on the most innocuous of pitches, and in Sydney just over four years ago, when last-wicket pair Stuart Broad and James Anderson saw out the final two overs, prevented 5-0 sweeps.

Those respective stalemates at the MCG and SCG looked like minor victories at the time for England, but this time the only win that will do the trick is a first series victory in these parts since Sir Andrew Strauss’ 2010/11 promotion – because that seems entirely possible.

England are playing, in Broad’s words, “probably the worst Australian team since 2010”, adding when speaking to the BBC podcast. For the love of cricket: “I don’t think anyone can say that this isn’t their weakest team. That’s just a fact.”

Broad is “probably” right, although that’s mainly because previous iterations of the team – those with David Warner dazzling at the top of the order, Steve Smith producing runs in his idiosyncratic way and a relentless bowling unit – have been exceptional.

It wouldn’t be wise to write Australia off, of course, with plenty of time for that English optimism to fade before the series opener in Perth on November 21, but the problems are piling up that the nation has held an iron grip on the ballot box since 2017/18.

Cummins concerns and troubled order of priority

Those problems were largely confined to batting – we don’t seem any closer to knowing the exact line-up of the top three – but there are now concerns over spearhead and bowling captain Pat Cummins.

Major concern.

He has not played since July due to a back injury and considers himself “unlikely” to be fit for the Perth Test. There are rumors in Australia – even if just to give England a bad rap – that Cummins could miss the entire series. It would be a titanic blow.

Australia would not only be deprived of their leader and an all-round bowler, but also of useful runs at No.8. You only have to look back to the first Test of the 2023 Ashes at Edgbaston, when Cummins guided his men to a heartbreaking victory to see how vital these can be.

The reliable Scott Boland would be a capable deputy as a speedy third alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, but beyond that?

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

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

It seems likely that Khawaja, 38, who has averaged just over 30 on tests since January 2024, and Green retain their spots, but who pairs Khawaja at the top of the order is still up for debate — and there isn’t really a standout candidate.

Marnus Labuschagne, perhaps, who has returned to form with centuries in domestic cricket, but he would be out of position as an opener. Number 3 is his bread and butter.

Other options are young and promising (Konstas, Campbell Kellaway), have been tried before but not really successful (Cameron Bancroft, Nathan McSweeney, Marcus Harris), or are tried domestically but not tested internationally (Jake Weatherald, Henry Hunt).

Will England persist with the Pope – or take a “big gamble”?

England have far fewer decisions to make, the main one being who to select at number 3 – either the player in possession in Ollie Pope or the man to come in Jacob Bethell.

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

While they ponder that, encouraging news emerges regarding the fitness of talismanic skipper Ben Stokes and pace ace 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 no Carse, it adds to the positive vibe around the England camp when the opposite seems true on the hosts’ side and you sense Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer etc. will be licking their lips at the thought of joining Australia’s fragile top order.

England fans shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking it will be easy: Lord Ian Botham has criticized a simplified preparation which he says “borders on arrogance” and we know all too well what can happen if things start to go wrong during an Ashes tour.

Warner also intervened, saying that despite Cummins’ fitness issues and potential batting weaknesses, Australia would win the series 4–0 as England would be too concerned with a “moral victory”.

But a “real victory” seems achievable here. What was the response of “probably the worst Australian team since 2010”?

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26

Every hour in the UK and Ireland

• First try: Friday November 21 – Tuesday November 25 (2h30) – Optus Stadium, Perth
• Second test (day/night): Thursday December 4 – Monday December 8 (4:30 a.m.) – The Gabba, Brisbane
• Third try: Wednesday December 17 – Sunday December 21 (00:00) – Adelaide Oval
• Fourth try: Thursday December 25 – Monday December 29 (11:30 p.m.) – Melbourne Cricket Ground
• Fifth test: Sunday January 4 – Thursday January 8 (11:30 p.m.) – Sydney Cricket Ground