Broad's bold claim about Australia's 'worst' squad in 15 years

BRISBANE, Australia, Oct 15 (AP): It's the game before the games, the chatter for the Ashes.

And well-known former protagonists from Australia and England have started the verbal jousting that comes with one of the oldest sporting rivalries in the world.

Ex-Australia opening batter David Warner raised the level this week when he said the Australians were competing to win the Ashes, while England would be playing for a "moral victory" for its so-called Bazball approach to test cricket.

Warner predicted a 4-0 win for Australia - expecting the weather inevitably to play some part in a draw along the way - although suggested England could win one test if Australia skipper Pat Cummins is ruled out through injury.

Stuart Broad, a longtime pace spearhead for England, upped the ante by declaring Australia's squad will be the worst to wear the baggy green since 2010-11.

"It's probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won, and it's the best English team since 2010," Broad told a BBC podcast. "It's actually not an opinion, it's fact.

"So those things match up to the fact it's going to be a brilliant Ashes series."

That assessment hit where it

hurts for the Aussies, being the last series where Australia lost an Ashes match on home soil.