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The tourists have left decisions open for the series opener by naming spin bowler the young spinner in a twelve-player team combined with five fast bowlers

Mark Wood has been passed fit and appears likely to feature against Australia in Perth on the coming Friday, with the final decision possibly between the young spinner and pace bowler the seamer

Pitch Conditions

If the visitors select an all-pace attack - four main pacers plus multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes match in the host nation

Earlier this week local pitch curator McDonald commented to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the surface at the stadium, and it appears probable the English will stick to a traditional approach of an pace-only strategy

Yet the tourists have also observed a lack of moisture to the pitch, placing Bashir into consideration

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five previous Tests have been hosted here - Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the top wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The English management have favored Bashir, 22 years old, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in spring he became the youngest England bowler to reach fifty wickets in international Tests

But he has not played a official match following securing the last dismissal in a dramatic victory over India in the third match at the famous ground in summer

Recent Challenges

The spinner has been recovering from a hand problem and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, recording match figures of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

This creates the prospect of Bashir playing in an Ashes match without being contracted with a first-class side

His contract at the domestic team ended at the end of the home summer

Expected Selection

Still, an England team containing Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Stokes and Brydon Carse - each of whom are likely to hit high speeds - continues to be the probable result

The first Test commences at early morning GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and real-time features available

England Squad

England squad for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (leader), Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Historical Context

Although a various English Ashes victories at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have never fielded as multiple quick bowlers in the same team

The team that succeeded at home in the celebrated contest of that year featured Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's triumphant visitors to the host nation in those years had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that won in 1954-55 featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Test series in recent years - the English team are aiming to change an difficult past - they have failed to win a Test match in the host country since over a decade ago

Just five players of the sixteen-player group have played a international Test in Australia, but Atkinson states that could help the visitors

"This might be an benefit," he mentioned to the press

"There have been a lot of players who have mentioned they have had challenging periods here in Australia

"In our case, we are a very relaxed, highly optimistic squad

"No scarring

"It's thrilling

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to create history"

Opposition News

Australia's practice session on this week was momentarily paused by the threat of lightning

Australia are probably going to provide an opportunity to batsman Weatherald, with uncapped fast bowler Doggett also joining following fitness concerns to captain Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood