Former Australian Test skipper Ian Chappell has labelled Alastair Cook's captaincy "not very good", described Joe Root's as "horrible" and tipped a "very tight" Ashes series so long as Ben Stokes, who he considers "a good captain", is fit to bowl in all five Tests.
Chappell has also defended England's style of play in Test cricket, dismissing the criticism it's attracted as "total rubbish", although he branded the term "Bazball" a "media myth".
England was humiliated in each of its past three Ashes tours of Australia, going down 5-0 in 2013-14 under the captaincy of Cook, losing 4-0 in 2017-18 under the captaincy of Root and again suffering a 4-0 defeat on Root's watch in 2021-22.
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Ahead of this summer's series, beginning in Perth on Friday, there is a renewed optimism surrounding the English camp under the leadership of Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.
Speaking on Wide World of Sports' Outside the Rope this week, host Mat Thompson laid out England's wretched Ashes record of late on Australian soil.
"Not surprising," replied Chappell, who proceeded to batter Cook and Root like he battered the loose ball in his heyday.
"You look at the captains they had — Alastair Cook, not very good; Joe Root, horrible. England on the last tour were shocking. So, I'd almost eradicate them.
"England will be better captained [this summer]; that's the first thing.
"But if they bowl and play like they did in the last three Ashes [series] they'll lose 4-0 again.
"If Stokes is fit to bowl in all five Test matches it'll be very tight."
Since taking over the Test captaincy from Root in April 2022, Stokes has led England in 37 Tests and notched 22 wins, 13 losses and two draws for a win percentage of 59.45.
He boasts a far superior Test captaincy record than both Cook, who recorded 24 wins, 22 losses and 13 draws from 59 Tests for a win percentage of 40.67, and Root, who registered 27 wins, 26 losses and 11 draws from 64 Tests for a win percentage of 42.18.
Of the England captains who've skippered in a minimum of 10 Tests, only WG Grace (61.53) and Douglas Jardine (60) own a superior win percentage to Stokes' 59.45.
Regardless of how impressive a win percentage Stokes ends his career with, his time as captain will always have an asterisk if he's not able to lead England to a series triumph over Australia.
Cook predicted England would win 3-1 this summer, while Graeme Swann and Steven Finn both tipped the visitors to claim 3-2 wins.
Injury has struck Josh Hazlewood since those predictions were made, ruling the brilliant Australian quick out of the opening Test.
Stokes is aiming to become the first England captain since Andrew Strauss (2010-11) to win an Ashes series Down Under and only the sixth since World War II, after Strauss, Len Hutton (1954-55), Ray Illingworth (1970-71), Mike Brearley (1978-79) and Mike Gatting (1986-87).
At all five stops on the Ashes tour, the buzzword that is "Bazball" will be going off like the BBL zing bails.
"The rubbish that is spoken about Bazball is total rubbish because what Stokes is doing is what you should do, [and] what England should gave been doing a lot of the time," Chappell said on Outside the Rope.
The former Test captain labelled the term "Bazball" a "media myth" in a separate interview with Wide World of Sports.
After all, the "Baz" McCullum-inspired term was coined by a reporter.
But Chappell defended England's approach under the leadership of Stokes and McCullum.
"Bazball is a media myth. It's not Bazball at all; it's attacking batting," Chappell told Wide World of Sports.
"Now, whether they're reckless at times or they're not, that's up to the English batsmen.
"What's really important is that England are attacking, and if you boil Test cricket down or you simplify it, the batsmen are there to get the runs as quickly as possible to give the bowlers as long as possible to take the 20 wickets, because that's the toughest thing to do.
"So it's a sensible thing that England are doing, trying to attack. But you've got to understand that there are times when you can attack, and other times when you've gotta work bloody hard for your runs.
"Australian teams have always, and when I say always, not just recently, always, [batted attackingly]."
Chappell noted the time Australia's Victor Trumper thumped a century in a session in 1902.
Trumper's ton in fact came in the first session of a Test, against England at Old Trafford.
"So Australia has always had attacking batsmen, but they've been attacking when they've had the opportunity to attack," Chappell added.
"If they haven't got the opportunity to attack, they're still trying to make a big score, so that's important.
"The other thing that's important about Stokes' captaincy is that he's trying to get wickets all the time."
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