As the pre-Ashes predictions from former greats multiply with a week to go until the opening Perth Test, one of the more surprising has come from England pace maestro James Anderson, who's tipped Australia as slight favourites to retain the urn.
Anderson, the recently knighted 43-year-old still going strong for Lancashire some 14 years since he helped bowl England to their last Ashes series win 'down under', goes along with his pace partner Stuart Broad's theory that the home side will be Australia's weakest since that 2010-11 tour.
But he still rates England the underdogs, going against the fond practice of former greats backing their team to win the urn. Like David Warner, who's tipped the hosts to win 4-0 and Glenn McGrath, who naturally has given his traditional '5-0 to Australia' tip.
