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The tourists have kept their options open for the initial Ashes match by including off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad combined with five pace bowlers

The fast bowler is declared fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the last selection possibly coming down to spinner Bashir and fast bowler Carse

Ground Situation

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four main pacers along with all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would possibly be the fastest group of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes Test in the host nation

Earlier this week Western Australia pitch curator McDonald commented to look for "speed and bounce" from the surface at the stadium, and it appears probable England will adhere to a long-standing plan of an fast bowling focus

But the English team have also observed a arid quality to the wicket, bringing the off-spinner into the running

Spinning Options

In the short history of the ground - five prior matches have been played here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The team have favored Shoaib, 22, as their first-choice spinner for since last year and in spring he became the most youthful English bowler to reach 50 wickets in Test matches

Yet he has been absent from a competitive game following claiming the last dismissal in a dramatic victory over India in the third match at the famous ground in July

Recent Issues

He has been suffering from a finger injury and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, recording combined figures of 2 for 151 from twenty-four overs

It also raises the scenario of him competing in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a county

His contract at his county expired at the finish of the English season

Likely Lineup

However, an English side featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Stokes and Carse - each of whom are likely to hit high speeds - stays the probable result

The opening match commences at 02:20 GMT on the weekend, with instant commentary, specialist radio coverage and real-time features provided

Playing Group

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (skipper), Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

While a number of England Ashes triumphs at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have never fielded as numerous fast bowlers in the same team

The lineup that succeeded at domestically in the famous series of 2005 Ashes featured Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

The captain's winning English side to Australia in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the England team that succeeded in 1954-55 contained Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in modern times - the English team are looking to overturn an awful record - they have not won a Test match in Australia since 2011

Only five members of the extended squad have participated in a international Test in Australia, but Atkinson states that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an positive," he mentioned to the press

"We've seen a many cricketers who have said they have had some tough times in this country

"For us, we are a very relaxed, very positive group

"No bad memories

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a great possibility to create history"

Australian Preparations

The Australian practice session on recently was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

The hosts are probably going to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with uncapped pace bowler Doggett also being included due to injuries to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood