David Warner mocks England: They want a moral victory over the Ashes – The Telegraph

Former Australia opener fires jibe at Harry Brook as hotly-anticipated Test series edges closer
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David Warner has ridiculed England by predicting Australia will win next month’s Ashes with ease because Ben Stokes’s team are focused on “moral victories”.
Warner’s last Ashes was 2023, a series that finished 2-2 but with England players such as Harry Brook joking they had won the “moral Ashes” after a damp draw at Old Trafford denied them a shot at victory.
“The Australian way, because we’re playing for the Ashes and they’re playing for a moral victory,” said Warner, when asked which approach would win.
The fitness of Australia’s captain Pat Cummins is in the spotlight as he recovers from a back issue. Warner predicted England would win one game in the series if, as expected, he is unavailable at the start of the series.
“I think [Australia will win] 4-0,” he said. “There’s going to be a washout somewhere, generally Sydney. If the captain doesn’t play, they might win one game.”
Cummins accepted he is “less than likely” to be fit for the first match of the series in Perth on November 21. Cummins is running again, but is still some weeks away from bowling at full tilt. Australia have dismissed the reports that he will miss the whole series.
Warner has also encouraged Australia to sledge England –except their captain Stokes.
“If we can sort of not poke that bear and get him up and about, I think that will help the Australians enormously,” Warner said. “I do want to see some bantering out on the field and I want to see them going at each other a little bit — obviously not at Stokes — because that is what creates that energy and involvement in the game.”
The first raft of English players have already left home with Brook’s T20 side preparing in Queenstown for a series against New Zealand that begins on Saturday.
Among the group is Brydon Carse, the Durham fast bowler who has been training with Stokes and Mark Wood in recent weeks as they recover from injury.
“Ben and Woody are going well,” said Carse. “I’ve been down to Loughborough in the past couple of weeks, had a couple of nights with them. Ben is looking near enough 100 per cent fit and so is Mark. I’ve been bowling with them. It’s exciting to see where they have got to after their setbacks during the summer. They will be raring to go come Australia time.”
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