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The English side has maintained flexibility for the series opener by naming off-spinner the young spinner in a 12-man squad together with five pace bowlers

Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature versus the Aussies in Perth on the weekend, with the final decision possibly between the young spinner and pace bowler Carse

Ground Situation

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four main pacers combined with multi-skilled player the captain - it would potentially be the quickest collection of pacemen they have fielded in an Test against Australia in this country

On Wednesday Western Australia groundsman the curator stated to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the surface at the venue, and it looks possible the English will follow a traditional approach of an pace-only strategy

But the tourists have also noted a lack of moisture to the wicket, placing the off-spinner into consideration

Spinning Options

During the brief existence of Perth Stadium - five earlier Tests have been staged here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

The English management have favored Bashir, 22, as their primary spin option for since last year and in spring he was recognized as the most youthful English bowler to attain half-century of wickets in Test matches

However he has not played a first-class game following claiming the last dismissal in a dramatic victory over India in the third match at Lord's in summer

Current Concerns

The spinner has been suffering from a hand problem and had challenges in the sole practice game against the Lions, posting overall statistics of 2 for 151 from twenty-four overs

It also raises the possibility of him playing in an Test against Australia without being attached to a county

His contract at the domestic team concluded at the finish of the English season

Expected Selection

Nevertheless, an visiting team including Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are able to achieve 90mph - remains the probable result

The opening match starts at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, expert analysis and in-play highlights accessible

Team Selection

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Team Background

Although a various England Ashes triumphs at in England and overseas have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously used as numerous fast bowlers in the identical lineup

The lineup that won at domestically in the celebrated contest of that year included Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's triumphant visitors to the host nation in those years had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the England team that succeeded in those seasons contained Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

This time around - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in recent memory - the visitors are looking to overturn an awful record - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in the host country since that year

Merely five individuals of the 16-man squad have played a international Test in the host nation, but the bowler comments that could help the visitors

"It could be an positive," he told reporters

"There are a many cricketers who have mentioned they have had challenging periods down under

"In our case, we are a very relaxed, very positive squad

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a massive chance to do something special"

Host Team Situation

The Australian practice session on Wednesday was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

The hosts are probably going to provide an opportunity to opener Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut seamer Doggett also being included due to injuries to skipper Cummins and colleague Hazlewood