Ashes: Australia legend Ricky Ponting rips England to shreds – they don’t stand a chance

England are nearing the end of their preparations for the Ashes, with the first test against Australia in Brisbane getting underway on November 23.

Joe Root’s side come into the match in fine form, having beaten a Cricket Australia XI last week by 192 runs.

However, former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting is not convinced by England and thinks Steve Smith’s men will reclaim the Ashes with ease.

“I’ve been a bit more outward than normal about this one because I honestly think that Australia will win really easily,” he told website Cricket Australia.

“If you look through the current England team, they’re searching for an opener, they’re searching for a No 3, [Ben] Stokes might not be there, a couple of their quicks have gone down.

“I just think right now England have got more gaps and more cause for concern than Australia, not only in their XI but in their entire squad.

“James Anderson and Stuart Broad, as good as they’ve been over the years, I think they’re on a steady decline. 

“They’re not going to get better from here as cricketers, they’re hanging on to a reasonably high level of performance.

“Then you match it up against what we’ve got [Mitchell] Starc, [Pat] Cummins and [Josh] Hazlewood who are skyrocketing – those guys are on the up.

“I’m pretty confident that we’ve got a group of guys there who are going to make it really hard for England to win a game.

“My prediction is that it will be 4-0 Australia, and I think the best chance that England have got will be in Adelaide where a night game, pink ball, the night time conditions will suit Anderson and Broad down to the ground.

“If they don’t win that one, I can’t see them winning one.”