The prediction caught the eye of Stuart Broad, who wrote on X: \u201cIt\u2019s August! At least let us land Glenn!\u201d <\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
But here is a twist to the tale with the revolutions McGrath\u2019s old mate Shane Warne used to impart on the Kookaburra. <\/p>\n
There are elements of England\u2019s game including \u201cBazball\u201d that the 55-year-old admires, with McGrath stating that he has enjoyed watching the manner with which Harry Brook plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love seeing sportspeople go out there and play without fear. That is what Baz (McCullum) is looking to bring into this English team, (to) play without fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to see a bit more accountability and the mental side of the game, just them (being) switched on a bit more, (but) it is exciting.\u201d <\/p>\n
The champion fast-medium bowler was renowned for identifying an opposition batter to target and, while no longer in the middle, is no less adept at targeting a threat.<\/p>\n
Brook, who was England\u2019s player of the series in the recent thriller against India, has made ten centuries in 30 Tests but is yet to feature on a tour of Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrook\u2019s the one that I\u2019ve enjoyed watching. He just goes out there, plays his game and takes it on. The Australians will need to get on him pretty early,\u201d McGrath told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Root 2nd all-time on test runs list | 01:18<\/p>\n
Former England captain and Fox Cricket expert analyst Michael Vaughan is confident that for the first time in 15 years, his nation will arrive in Australia with a settled top order.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe top seven is pretty solid. I guess you would like some more runs from Zak Crawley and have liked a few more from Ollie Pope at number three,\u201d Vaughan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think it is the first time since 2010 when England won in Australia that we arrive in Australia with a top seven that we are really not going to debate going into that first Test in Perth.\u201d <\/p>\n
But McGrath has no doubt much rests on Brook and English champion Joe Root, who is yet to score a century in Australia, where his average of 35.68 is 15 runs lower than his career output.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis series will be a big one for Root. He\u2019s never really done that well in Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not even got a 100 over there, so he\u2019ll be keen to get out there. He is in fine form.\u201d<\/p>\n
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 04: India batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal in conversation with Joe Root after day five of the Fifth Test Match between England and India at The Kia Oval on August 04, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Stu Forster\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
England make India pay for blunder | 01:00<\/p>\n
While McGrath is confident in his prediction of a whitewash, quipping \u201cit\u2019s very rare for me to make a prediction, isn\u2019t it?\u201d, he acknowledges there are concerns with Australia\u2019s top order.<\/p>\n
Exactly who will open alongside Usman Khawaja in Perth, and whether Marnus Labuschagne will get another chance, is far from settled.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s chairman of selectors George Bailey said in Darwin on Thursday that Labuschagne, who will play South Africa in the one-day series this month in the Top End and Far North Queensland, remains a contender despite being axed in the West Indies.<\/p>\n
Sam Konstas, who failed to fire in the Caribbean, and Nathan McSweeney, who debuted against India last summer before being discarded, will tour India as part of an Australian A team are also in contention, along with the uncapped Jake Weatherald.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Weatherald\u2019s) doing a lot of things right, isn\u2019t he? His performance last year was awesome. His performance in the Australia A matches was great, too,\u201d Bailey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s the clear message to him, on the back of talking him through the Australia A selections, the clear focus for him is just to continue that and be consistent.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of selection is potentially being in the right place at the right time. So if he starts the year as he did last year, he\u2019ll be well in the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n
West Indies v aus cricket L-R, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland with the Frank Worrell Trophy. Picture – SuppliedSource: Supplied<\/p>\n
Although there is uncertainty surrounding the Australian top-order, McGrath is confident the hosts outstanding pace attack will enable the Aussies to comfortably retain the Urn.<\/p>\n
England have failed to win a Test in Australia since their success down under in 2010-2011 and McGrath doubts they have the capabilities to break the drought this summer either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very confident with our team. When you\u2019ve got Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon firing in their home conditions, it\u2019s going to be pretty tough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlus, that track record England have had, it\u2019d be interesting to see if they can win a Test.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGrath Foundation extends support | 00:49<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Glenn McGrath has delivered an Ashes prediction as reliable as the accuracy with which the \u2018Pigeon\u2019 used to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6074,1724,64,63,689,44210,44223,44225,44214,11405,2090,44207,44208,3567,1208,2057,44216,44215,44212,2105,35082,44217,1209,44222,44226,17066,44227,44218,2022,44209,17055,31024,29547,18779,44,3583,677,44220,44224,1948,46,44211,17069,1934,44219,44213,44228,1183,18780,12540,44206,22760,3586,44221,3439],"class_list":["post-52909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-africa","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-cricket-legend","tag-australian-top-order","tag-ball-century","tag-ben-hoskins","tag-box-seat","tag-british-broadcasting-corporation","tag-career-output","tag-champion-fast-medium-bowler","tag-courtney-walsh","tag-england","tag-europe","tag-fielding-errorcricket","tag-frank-worrell","tag-george-bailey","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-glenn-mcgrath","tag-home-conditions","tag-india","tag-indies-v-aus","tag-jake-weatherald","tag-joe-root","tag-josh-hazlewood","tag-labuschagne","tag-london","tag-mcgrath-foundation","tag-michael-vaughan","tag-mitchell-starc","tag-nathan-lyon","tag-nathan-mcsweeney","tag-news","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-opposition-batter","tag-pace-attack","tag-pat-cummins","tag-perth","tag-runs-listcricket","tag-sam-konstas","tag-scott-boland","tag-series-whitewash","tag-settled-top-order","tag-shane-warne","tag-south-africa","tag-southern-africa","tag-southern-asia","tag-top-order","tag-track-record","tag-united-kingdom","tag-v-aus-cricket","tag-western-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}