Ashes 2013: England will retain the urn, say six former captains

Get ready for an epic Ashes double!

Mike Atherton: England 3-0 Australia I'm going for 3-0 to England because I think fundamentally they are a better side than Australia. Australia's bowling is okay on the whole but their batting is extremely flimsy and very reliant on a couple of players - Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin providing the bulk of the experience. One of Darren Lehmann's first decisions as Australia coach was to restore Watson to the top of the batting order and it will be fascinating to see if he is ready for the responsibility of such a role. He has enjoyed success as an opener and his battle with James Anderson will be fascinating to watch; if Anderson is at his destructive best, knocking Watson over will give England a real lift and severely dent Australian morale. I think Graeme Swann is going to have a field day against some of the left-handers. But there will probably be bad weather around and Australia are not going to be a complete pushover. I think England will win confidently.

Nasser Hussain: England 3-1 Australia Rumours of Australia's death have been greatly exaggerated. They are obviously not the side they were but they might never be that good again. That said, they are a pretty good side; their bowling attack is pretty useful and they've got batsmen who have got runs in England against English conditions. They are well led by Michael Clarke and Darren Lehmann will definitely bring them all together. The Aussies were splitting under the previous regime and that's important, but I still think that England should be too good for them in English conditions if they play well. I think their bowling attack will win them one of the Test matches; I think there will be a draw either at Old Trafford or Durham because of the weather. When that first over comes at Trent Bridge, England will be ready. It has been all about the Ashes since the final of the Champions Trophy. Ashes fever has been building up. Andy Flower has got to plan out not only how those players are going to be ready for the first Test, but also for the seventh, eighth and ninth Tests. Keeping players fresh for what are two huges series is of paramount importance.

Andrew Strauss: England 3-1 Australia If England win here we should win in Australia too, so I'm going for 2-0 away. I just think that we've got too much experience and quality; there are too many weaknesses in the Australian line-up for them to be competitive in all five Test matches. They will certainly be competitive in at least one of them but over the passage of the series, England's superiority should shine through. But there are no foregone conclusions. Anyone who thinks that it will be a walkover and we needn't even bother thinking about how the matches might play out is walking in cloud cuckoo-land. There are going to be some really difficult, pressurised periods of play and those periods of play will determine the outcome of the Test match and ultimately the series result. On the back of that, I think that whichever team wins over here has got a great chance of repeating the dose because there is so little time for a team to recover, change strategy and potentially change personnel that the winning side's momentum should carry them through to win in Australia. If you take the 2005 Ashes as a template I'm sure that's what we'd love to see this summer - close games, high-quality cricket, great hundreds, fantastic catches and inspired spells of bowling. If we get that it's the best possible advert for the Ashes series and Test cricket in general. We're at a time now where Test cricket needs that positive advertisement and I'm sure the players in both sides will be determined to ensure that is the case.

Bob Willis: England 3-1 Australia I think England will bat badly once and lose a game and another Test will be affected by the weather and be drawn. England will win the other three with the help principally of Graeme Swann. Don't for one minute think that I am underestimating the Australian bowling attack, which I think is very handy indeed. If all of their bowlers stay fit, that attack will take some handling. But apart from Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin the rest of the Australian batting looks very vulnerable to me. But how England go depends a great deal on the pitches. I'm expecting pitches similar to the type that we saw in the Champions Trophy. Although it has been another ghastly summer, pitches have started very dry and I think that England will make sure that happens again. Swann will be even more of a key player on dry pitches against the Australian left-handers. I remember when Steven Finn bowled well against New Zealand at Headingley, Andy Flower made the point that it was good to see Finn performing well on a dry, flat pitch. I think there is a clue there as to what England are looking to provide in terms of surfaces. I think that they are better equipped in the swing and the spin departments, with James Anderson and Swann the key bowlers respectively.

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