The Ashes series between Australia and England is still eight months away but the highly anticipated series is already in the headlines. Former Australia opener David Warner has started playing the mind games and picked Australia as the favorites to win the series.

David Warner feels that England’s Bazball style won’t work in Australian conditions and warned them to play with that style down under. Bazball involves an aggressive batting style which England have adopted over the last few years in Test cricket.

England have tried to play with an all-out aggression which gives them the best chance to put pressure on the opposition and win games. While this method proved to be successful in home Test matches, it didn’t receive too much success in the subcontinent.

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David Warner picks favorites in 2025-26 Ashes

When David Warner was asked about the favorites to win the upcoming Ashes, he had no hesitation in picking his own country Australia. Warner has full confidence in Australia’s world-class bowling attack and feels that their experience will make a difference.

“At the moment, just with the Australians (as favourites). Not just knowing the conditions but you’ve got over 1,400 international, or Test wickets in that line up with the Australian cricket team. They’re world-class bowlers, they’re always going to turn out and that’s the biggest hurdle for England,” Warner was quoted as saying by Wisden.

Australia have a settled bowling line-up which has been serving them for almost a decade. The trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins form one of the most potent bowling attacks of all time.

They also have Scott Boland as the reserve bowler, who has been tremendous in the limited opportunities he has received. They also have Nathan Lyon as the spin bowling option who has been highly successful on Australian pitches with his ability to use the bounce to good effect.

David Warner plays mind games against England

David Warner believes that England’s Bazball style won’t work on bouncy Australian pitches and it would be risky for England to play aggressively here. However, he feels that it will get interesting if England plays an attacking brand of cricket.

“I don’t know if Bazball is a myth now over there, but I can’t see it happening in Australia with the bounce and everything and the fields Australia set last time in England. It would be pretty high risk to play that in Australia,” Warner reckoned.

“Given that you want to wear the wickets out a little bit – get into day four, day five, it’s probably not the way to go about it. But if that is the way they go about it, it’s going to be high tempo, high energy and we’ll all get a couple of days off at the back end I think,” he added.

David Warner’s international retirement

David Warner retired from international cricket after the T20 World Cup 2024 where Australia failed to qualify for the semi-finals. His last Test match was against Pakistan earlier that year in Sydney.

The Ashes series between Australia and England will begin on November 21 in Perth. The five-match Test series will conclude in Sydney early next year. Australia have been highly dominant over the recent Ashes series and will start as favorites here as well.