Sydney, Oct 13 (NationPress) Former Test opener David Warner has rejected claims that England's "Bazball" strategy will affect the Ashes outcome in favor of the visiting team, expressing confidence in Australia's ability to keep the urn.

Since 2015, England has not secured an Ashes series victory, and they last triumphed in a Test match on Australian soil in 2011. Warner boldly forecasts that Australia will clinch the Ashes 3-1, even if skipper Pat Cummins cannot participate in the initial Test in Perth.

At the launch of Kayo Sports and Fox Sports’ Summer of Cricket in Parramatta, Warner was queried about which team's tactics would prevail in the Ashes series commencing on November 21 in Perth. He confidently asserted, "The Australian way because we’re playing for the Ashes and they’re playing for a moral victory," adding, "There’s your headline."

When prompted for a series prediction, he replied, "I’ll just stick with 4-nil." He explained, "There’s going to be a washout somewhere; it’s generally Sydney. 4-nil. It’s going to be a great series. All dependant on the captain (Pat Cummins). If the captain doesn’t play, they might win one game. If Cummo’s (Cummins) there, 4-nil. If not, they probably win one game only."

Warner also cautioned Australia about antagonizing English captain Ben Stokes. "I had the fortunate privilege to share a change room with him when he was younger, and he has evolved into a serious cricketer and a fantastic leader," he remarked.

He emphasized, "If we can sort of not poke that bear and get him up and about, I think that will help the Australians enormously. But 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."

Warner expressed his desire for Australian players to engage in some friendly rivalry, stating, "I think that is where the war of words comes out. Generally, it is someone like myself who is starting it, but I want to see someone else in the (Australian) camp start something, whether it is Heady or someone else."

Additionally, Warner highlighted Marnus Labuschagne’s prior experience and success in Tests, placing him firmly in contention for the Ashes opener next month, and also backed promising young player Sam Konstas to maintain his position at the top of the order for the first match.

He praised Labuschagne, stating, "Marnus has obviously come out of the blocks very well. When you’ve got a lot of Test cricket under your belt, you know what he’s capable of and you know what he can do. When someone’s averaging 50 in Test cricket, you’ve probably got to go back to that."

Labuschagne previously opened for Australia with Usman Khawaja in the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s in June, prior to Khawaja being dropped for the West Indies tour due to scores of 17 and 22.

Despite a recent decline in form, Warner advocated for Konstas to open alongside Khawaja in the Ashes. The young New South Welshman, who recently turned 20, had a challenging tour of the West Indies, accumulating only 50 runs at an average of 8.33 across three Tests.

However, Konstas demonstrated his potential with a composed 109 and an unbeaten 27 in the first multi-day match against India A in Lucknow. The key question for Australia remains whether selectors will continue with Konstas or reintroduce Labuschagne into the top six.

Warner commented, "I’d like them to try and stick with Sam, give him a crack. He scored that hundred in the Australian A series. I thought he batted outstandingly there. I don’t think we’ve seen exactly what we know Sam Konstas can do. It’s a short-term fix if they want to try and find someone else ... but there’s no reason why Sam Konstas can’t do that."