Australia worries and England bravado light Ashes fuse

Major doubts over Pat Cummins' fitness and a void at the top of the Australian order has sparked bravado from England six weeks out from the Ashes but David Warner, at least, is having none of it.

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Former fast bowler Stuart Broad lit the fuse this week by claiming England's oldest rivals have their weakest side in 15 years.

"It's probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won (in Australia), and it’s the best English team since 2010,” Broad, now working as a pundit, told the BBC.

“It’s actually not an opinion, it’s fact.”

His provocative comments came on the back of opener Zak Crawley claiming the term Bazball ‘winds’ Australia up and Joe Root suggesting the five-Test series was the best chance to snap his record of never blasting a century Down Under.

England are bringing a powerful squad with a cartel of dangerous quicks spearheaded by Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, while Root, Crawley and Harry Brook lead a batting lineup with plenty of depth.

But the reality for Ben Stokes’s men is they have an appalling record in Australia and the taunts will mean little when hostilities begin on Nov. 21 at the first Test in Perth.