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Former Australia pacer Ryan Harris has responded to England’s Stuart Broad’s remarks about the Australian team ahead of the Ashes 2025.
Last month, Broad hailed the current England side as the best since their win on Australian soil in the 2010/11 Ashes and rated the present Australian side as the weakest.
“You wouldn’t be outlandish in thinking – it’s actually not an opinion, it’s a fact – it’s probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won, and it’s the best English team since 2010,” he had said.
Harris dismissed the notion that the current Australian side is the weakest and stated that the pacers’ remarks are exaggerated to generate media hype.
“No way. He has got to be joking if he thinks this is the worst Australian side since those Ashes,” he told Reuters. “Obviously, he’s in the media, so he’s drumming up the hype.”
“We had some pretty good players, but they were just better. England were unreal, relentless with the bat and the ball,” he continued.
He mentioned England’s top order and their vulnerability, particularly Joe Root, who has yet to score a Test century in Australia.
“Their batting is unproven. Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett on our wickets. Joe Root’s been a number of times and hasn’t scored a hundred, has he?” said Harris.
“So there’s a lot of unproven stuff there. Broad is obviously drumming up interest, but you can’t just sit there and say they’re the best team since whenever, because they haven’t been out here and played – and the ones that have, haven’t (won).”
He revealed that in the past, they had successfully put England’s captain under pressure, which had worked for them, and added that this time, Australia would have to ensure that they do the same against Ben Stokes.
“We’ve got to make sure we put Stokes under pressure. One thing that we’ve done successfully in the past is put the England captain under pressure. We did that with Alastair Cook, not allowing him to dictate how he wants to play and get them off to a good start.
“It will be similar with Stokes if we can contain him with the ball,” Harris concluded.
The first match of the Ashes series will commence on November 21 at Perth Stadium.
