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The tourists have maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by naming off-spinner Bashir in a 12-man squad combined with five fast bowlers

Mark Wood has recovered and seems set to play versus the Aussies in Western Australia on the coming Friday, with the last selection possibly coming down to off-spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Pitch Conditions

Should England choose an pace-only bowling lineup - four dedicated bowlers along with all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of pacemen they have deployed in an Test against Australia in this country

Earlier this week Western Australia pitch curator McDonald commented to expect "fast and bouncy conditions" from the surface at the stadium, and it looks possible the tourists will adhere to a established strategy of an pace-only strategy

Yet the visitors have also spotted a lack of moisture to the surface, putting the spinner into the running

Spinning Options

During the brief existence of this venue - five prior matches have been hosted here - Australian spin bowler the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The English management have supported Shoaib, 22 years old, as their first-choice spinner for since last year and in recent months he was recognized as the most youthful English bowler to reach half-century of wickets in Test matches

But he has not played a competitive game following securing the last dismissal in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third Test at the famous ground in recently

Current Concerns

The spinner has been suffering from a finger injury and found it difficult in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, recording match figures of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

This presents the prospect of him competing in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a county

His contract at Somerset ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Expected Selection

Still, an England team featuring Mark Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Stokes and Carse - each of whom are likely to hit high speeds - remains the most likely outcome

The initial game commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with instant commentary, Test Match Special commentary and real-time features available

Team Selection

England squad for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (leader), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

While a various successful Ashes campaigns at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have never fielded as numerous fast bowlers in the identical lineup

The team that triumphed at domestically in the memorable competition of 2005 Ashes featured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

The captain's successful touring team to Australia in those years had Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the England team that triumphed in 1954-55 featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in modern times - the visitors are aiming to overturn an awful record - they have failed to win a Test match in the host country since that year

Only five members of the 16-man squad have experienced a Test match in the host nation, but Atkinson states that could benefit the English team

"It could be an advantage," he explained to reporters

"We've seen a lot of players who have said they have had challenging periods in this country

"In our case, we are a quite calm, highly optimistic group

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to do something special"

Host Team Situation

The host team's net session on this week was momentarily paused by the threat of lightning

The hosts are expected to give a debut to opener Jack Weatherald, with uncapped fast bowler Brendan Doggett also being included after injuries to captain Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood