England captain Ben Stokes has brushed off the brewing war of words between Australian and English legends ahead of the Ashes, saying the hostilities between the two sides had been “quite funny to see”.

Legendary English fast bowler Stuart Broad, who will commentate the series on Channel Seven, threw the first barb when he declared on his podcast the series would see “probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won” in Australia confront “the best English team since 2010”.

On the Australian side, Glenn McGrath has opted for his customary prediction of a 5-0 Australian win, while former captain Kim Hughes derided David Lloyd’s playful prediction of an English whitewash as laughable.

Stokes said he felt the build-up to the Ashes was getting bigger every time they came

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