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The tourists have maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by naming slow bowler Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve combined with five pace bowlers

Mark Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature against Australia in Western Australia on Friday, with the ultimate choice probably coming down to off-spinner Bashir and fast bowler the seamer

Ground Situation

If England opt for an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists combined with all-rounder the captain - it would arguably be the quickest collection of pacemen they have deployed in an Ashes match in this country

Recently Western Australia pitch curator McDonald said to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it looks possible the tourists will stick to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

Yet the English team have also noted a dryness to the wicket, putting Bashir into consideration

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five earlier Tests have been staged here - Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the most successful bowler with 29 dismissals

The team have favored the young spinner, twenty-two, as their primary spin option for more than a year and in recent months he became the least experienced English bowler to reach 50 wickets in international Tests

Yet he has missed a first-class game since securing the last dismissal in a exciting triumph over India in the third match at the famous ground in summer

Current Concerns

The spinner has been suffering from a broken finger and struggled in the single preparation match against England Lions, returning overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

This presents the scenario of the spinner playing in an Ashes Test without being affiliated with a county

The agreement at his county expired at the end of the home summer

Expected Selection

However, an visiting team including Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are able to achieve 90 miles per hour - continues to be the most likely outcome

The opening match begins at 02:20 GMT on the weekend, with instant commentary, specialist radio coverage and live action clips available

England Squad

Team lineup for series opener: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (leader), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

Although a number of English Ashes victories at home and abroad have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously used as numerous fast bowlers in the equivalent side

The team that succeeded at domestically in the famous series of 2005 Ashes contained Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

The captain's successful touring team to Australia in that era had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that triumphed in that period featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

This time around - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in recent memory - the visitors are aiming to reverse an awful record - they have failed to win a Test in Australia since 2011

Only five members of the 16-man squad have played a Test match in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an benefit," he explained to media outlets

"We've seen a many cricketers who have mentioned they have had difficult experiences here in Australia

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

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

"We all see it as a huge opportunity to create history"

Host Team Situation

Australia's net session on recently was briefly delayed by the risk of storms

Australia are likely to hand a first cap to opener Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Brendan Doggett also joining following health issues to skipper Pat Cummins and teammate Hazlewood