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England have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by selecting slow bowler Shoaib Bashir in a twelve-player team alongside five seamers

Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature against Australia in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the final decision likely coming down to the young spinner and fast bowler Brydon Carse

Pitch Conditions

If England opt for an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists plus all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the most rapid assembly of pacemen they have fielded in an Test against Australia in the host nation

On Wednesday Western Australia pitch curator Isaac McDonald said to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it looks possible England will adhere to a traditional approach of an exclusively pace attack

Yet the visitors have also noted a arid quality to the pitch, bringing Bashir into the running

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with 29

England have favored the young spinner, twenty-two, as their primary spin option for since last year and in spring he became the most youthful English bowler to reach 50 wickets in Test matches

But he has not played a official match after securing the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over India in the final Test at the famous ground in recently

Recent Issues

He has been suffering from a broken finger and found it difficult in England's only warm-up match against the development squad, recording overall statistics of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

This presents the scenario of him participating in an Ashes Test without being attached to a county

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

Probable Team

Still, an English side including Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are likely to hit high speeds - continues to be the probable result

The first Test commences at early morning GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and real-time features provided

Playing Group

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Archer, Bashir

Historical Context

While a several England Ashes triumphs at domestically and internationally have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the same team

The team that won at in England in the celebrated contest of 2005 Ashes included Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to the host nation in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in those seasons included Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in recent years - the visitors are aiming to reverse an difficult past - they have failed to win a five-day game in the host country since 2011

Only five members of the 16-man squad have participated in a Test in Australia, but Atkinson says that could help the visitors

"This could represent an positive," he explained to reporters

"We've seen a many cricketers who have mentioned they have had challenging periods down under

"For us, we are a quite calm, highly optimistic group

"No negative experiences

"It's thrilling

"The entire team views it as a massive chance to achieve something remarkable"

Australian Preparations

The host team's practice session on recently was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

The hosts are likely to hand a first cap to batsman Weatherald, with yet to debut pace bowler Brendan Doggett also joining due to fitness concerns to captain Pat Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood