England fast-bowling great Stuart Broad gave a hilarious response to Australian legend Glenn McGrath’s 2025-26 Ashes Prediction. The 55-year-old had predicted a 5-0 win for the hosts over England. The 39-year-old Stuart Broad said that McGrath could have waited for England to at least land in the country before making the prediction for the marquee series that starts on November 21.
Stuart Broad’s Response To Glenn McGrath’s comments
Stuart Broad gave a reminder to McGrath that we were only in August, with the series opener still more than three months away. Writing on X which was formerly called Twitter, he said: “It’s August! At least let us land Glenn!”
Broad will be part of the commentary panel for the Ashes, where he will be seen sharing thoughts with the Seven network. He was part of Sky Sports’ commentary team for the recently concluded England vs India Test series.
England’s Performance Down Under for the last decade or so
To put things into perspective, England last won the Ashes Series in Australia way back in 2010/11 under the astute leadership of Andrew Strauss. It was also the last time they won a Test match in Australia. In the last four series in Australia, England have lost 4-0, 4-0, and 5-0 respectively.
This will also be the first Ashes series since the retirement of both stalwarts and England legends James Anderson and Stuart Broad from International Cricket.
It remains to be seen whether England can put behind their last 3 tours Down Under and come back strongly in this particular series. Whether they win the series is a different top[c altogether, but a competitive England will set the series nicely. They are a better team than winning no games on three different tours. They have the talent to challenge Australia and its top order in particular. What England has to look at is whether they can keep their bowlers fit and how their batters take on the famed bowling Australian attack.
Joe Root will be the key for England as we all know he is yet to get a hundred in Australia. He is in tremendous rich vein of form and with pace and bounce on offer in Australia, Root should be able to conquer Australia this time around. It will be a big surprise if Root does not have a great series against Australia this time around. Yes, he will have challenges and will be the favourite to conquer his demons. Root is the Number One Test Batter in the world for a reason.
Alongside Joe Root, England will also rely on Harry Brook to perform as he can counter-attack and take the game away from Australia in the blink of an eye. Brook has been in stellar form in Tests and Australia needs to be mindful of that. Brook was awarded Player of the Series in Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and he would like to continue the rich vein of form Down Under in his first tour.
The openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley will be key with Duckett looking to take the game away from Australia while Crawley also needs runs under his belt desperately and so does Ollie Pope at Number 3 as he has been up and down in the series against India. Ben Stokes will his all-round leadership hopes to be fit and ready to go for Australia. Chris Woakes’ injury is a concern and whether it can heal before Australia series starts.
Jofra Archer will be key in the bowling alongside returning Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson while the others like Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse will be in the mix as well. England have the team and should at least compete with the Australians. It will be surprising if the series goes one-sided this time. There is still time left for it though.
So, the stage is set as the mind games have begun between former players as we get closer to Ashes 2025-26 which promises to be an epic battle.
Also Read: Ashes 2025-26: Glenn McGrath Predicts A 5-0 Whitewash For Australia