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England have maintained flexibility for the initial Ashes match by selecting slow bowler Bashir in a twelve-player team together with five pace bowlers

Wood has recovered and is expected to participate versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on the coming Friday, with the final decision possibly involving off-spinner Bashir and pace bowler Brydon Carse

Ground Situation

If England opt for an all-pace attack - four dedicated bowlers plus multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would arguably be the most rapid assembly of seamers they have used in an Test against Australia in this country

Recently local groundsman Isaac McDonald stated to look for "fast and bouncy conditions" from the surface at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely England will stick to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

However the visitors have also observed a arid quality to the pitch, bringing the off-spinner into consideration

Spinning Options

During the brief existence of the ground - five previous Tests have been hosted here - Australian spin bowler the experienced spinner is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

England have backed the young spinner, 22 years old, as their first-choice spinner for over twelve months and in recent months he became the youngest England bowler to attain fifty wickets in Tests

But he has missed a official match following claiming the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over India in the third match at the famous ground in summer

Recent Issues

The spinner has been recovering from a hand problem and had challenges in the single preparation match against the development squad, posting overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

This creates the possibility of him competing in an Ashes Test without being contracted with a domestic team

The agreement at Somerset expired at the finish of the English season

Likely Lineup

Nevertheless, an England team including Wood, Archer, Atkinson, captain Stokes and Carse - all of whom are likely to hit high speeds - remains the most likely outcome

The first Test starts at 2:20 AM GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and live action clips accessible

Team Selection

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Smith (wicketkeeper), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

While a number of successful Ashes campaigns at in England and overseas have been built on pace, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the same team

The team that triumphed at home in the famous series of 2005 contained Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's successful touring team to the host nation in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that won in those seasons featured Brian Statham and Tyson

Modern Context

This time around - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in modern times - England are hoping to overturn an poor history - they have failed to win a Test in the host country since 2011

Only five members of the sixteen-player group have experienced a Test in the host nation, but the bowler states that could benefit the English team

"This could represent an benefit," he explained to the press

"There have been a lot of players who have mentioned they have had some tough times here in Australia

"Regarding our team, we are a extremely composed, extremely confident squad

"No negative experiences

"It's thrilling

"We all see it as a great possibility to create history"

Host Team Situation

Australia's net session on Wednesday was temporarily interrupted by the threat of lightning

The hosts are expected to give a debut to batsman Weatherald, with uncapped seamer Brendan Doggett also coming in due to injuries to captain Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood