Usually it’s England with the big questions ahead of an away Ashes series.

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

Over the last three trips, the batting has proved too brittle and the bowling has lacked venom but England have only suffered one 5-0 loss in that time, in 2013/14 – ‘escaping’ with marginally more palatable 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 benign of pitches, and in Sydney a little over four years back, when last-wicket pair Stuart Broad and James Anderson saw off the final two overs, prevented 5-0 sweeps.

Those respective stalemates at the MCG and SCG felt like minor wins at the time for England but this time the only win that will do is a first series victory in these parts since Sir Andrew Strauss’ Class of 2010/11 – because it feels eminently possible.

England are playing, in Broad’s words, “probably the worst Australian team since 2010” adding while speaking to BBC podcast For The Love of Cricket: “I don’t think anyone could argue that it’s not their weakest team. It’s just a fact.”

Broad is “probably” right, although that is mainly because previous iterations of the side – ones with David Warner dazzling at the top of the order, Steve Smith churning out runs in that idiosyncratic fashion of his and a relentless bowling unit – have been outstanding.

It would be unwise to write Australia off, of course, with plenty of time for this English optimism to fade ahead of the series opener in Perth from November 21, but the problems are mounting for the nation to have held a cast-iron grip on the urn since 2017/18.

Cummins concerns and a struggling top order

Those issues were largely limited to the batting – we appear no closer to knowing the exact make-up of the top three – but now there is concern over bowling spearhead and captain Pat Cummins.

Major concern.

He has not played since July because of a back injury and considers himself ‘unlikely’ to be fit for the Perth Test. There is chatter in Australia – even if that is just to give England a bum steer – that Cummins may miss the whole series. That would be a titanic blow.

Australia would not only be shorn of their leader and a complete bowler but also useful runs at No 8. We need only go back to the first Test of the 2023 Ashes at Edgbaston, when Cummins guided his men to a nerve-shredding win, to see how vital those can be.

The dependable Scott Boland would be an able deputy as the third quick alongside Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood but beyond that?

The lifespan 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 the 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 managing just a solitary fifty between them – Green hitting that in Grenada.

It seems likely that 38-year-old Khawaja, who has averaged just a lick over 30 in Tests since January 2024, and Green keep their spots, but who partners Khawaja at the top of the order is still up for debate – and there is not really an outstanding candidate.

Marnus Labuschagne, perhaps, who has returned to form with centuries in domestic cricket but he would be batting out of position as an opener. No 3 is his bread and butter.

Other options are young and promising (Konstas, Campbell Kellaway), had a go before but not really nailed it (Cameron Bancroft, Nathan McSweeney, Marcus Harris) or experienced domestically, but untested internationally (Jake Weatherald, Henry Hunt).

Will England persist with Pope – or take a ‘big gamble’?

England have far fewer decisions to make, with the main one who to select at No 3 – either the player in possession in Ollie Pope or the coming man in Jacob Bethell.

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

While they mull that, there appears encouraging news over the fitness of talismanic skipper Ben Stokes and pace ace Mark Wood as they recover from shoulder and knee issues respectively, with Brydon Carse saying his team-mates are nearing “100 per cent”.

Kidology or not from Carse, it does add to the positive vibe around the England camp when the opposite appears true of the hosts’ and you sense Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer etc will be licking their lips at the prospects of tucking in to Australia’s fragile top order.

England fans should not kid themselves into thinking this will be easy: Lord Ian Botham has slammed a streamlined preparation that he feels “borders on arrogance” and we know all too well what can happen if things start going wrong on an Ashes tour.

Warner has also chimed in, too, saying that despite Cummins’ fitness concerns and potential batting weaknesses Australia will win the series 4-0 as England will be too concerned with a “moral victory”.

But an ‘actual victory’ does look attainable here. What have “probably the worst Australian team since 2010” got in response?

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26

All times UK and Ireland

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