Australian legend McGrath takes a massive Ashes dig at England: 'Interesting to see if they can win a Test'

Australia will be the overwhelming favourites to retain the Ashes when they host England on home soil later this year, with the first of five Tests getting underway in Perth in November. Australia, after all, have not lost a home Ashes Test since their 1-3 defeat at the hands of Andrew Strauss’ men in 2010-11 – their only series loss against the ‘Old Enemy’ in the last three-and-a-half decades.

And 13 of the last 15 Ashes Tests Down Under have been won by the home side, with the remaining two games ending in a draw.

McGrath predics a 5-0 sweep for Australia… again

Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath, for one, has been fairly consistent when it comes to predicting a 5-0 sweep for his team in the build-up to the Ashes, and he expects a similar result for Pat Cummins and Co when they’re up against the Ben Stokes-led England later in the Aussie summer.

“It’s very rare for me to make a prediction, isn’t it? And I can’t make a different one — 5-0,” McGrath, who had finished with 563 Test wickets at the end of an iconic career, said on BBC Radio.

“I’m very confident with our team. When you’ve got Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon firing in their home conditions, it’s going to be pretty tough. Plus, that track record England have had, it’d be interesting to see if they can win a Test," he added.

McGrath’s 5-0 prediction comes after Stokes and Co were held to a 2-2 draw at home by a relatively inexperienced by inspired Indian team led by first-time Test captain Shubman Gill. The Englishmen had gone 1-0 up by knocking off a 371-run target and would later regain the lead with a thrilling 22-run victory at Lord’s.

England, however, fail to bowl India out and clinch the series in the fourth Test in Manchester, where a defiant response from the Indian batters forced a draw. India would then pull off a thrilling six-run victory in the series finale at The Oval despite England cruising to 301/3 at one stage in their chase of a 374-run target, this time being undone by a brilliant bowling effort led by Mohammed Siraj.