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The English side has kept their options open for the first Ashes Test by naming spin bowler the young spinner in a twelve-player team together with five fast bowlers

Wood is declared fit and appears likely to feature versus the Aussies in Perth on Friday, with the ultimate choice probably coming down to the young spinner and seamer Carse

Pitch Conditions

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four main pacers along with all-rounder the captain - it would possibly be the quickest collection of seamers they have deployed in an Test against Australia in the host nation

On Wednesday WA groundsman McDonald stated to anticipate "fast and bouncy conditions" from the wicket at Perth Stadium, and it appears probable England will stick to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

However the tourists have also observed a lack of moisture to the pitch, putting the spinner into consideration

Spin Considerations

Throughout the limited timeframe of Perth Stadium - five previous Tests have been played here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with twenty-nine

England have backed the young spinner, 22, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in recent months he achieved the youngest England bowler to attain fifty wickets in Tests

However he has not played a competitive game since claiming the concluding scalp in a dramatic victory over India in the third Test at the famous ground in recently

Recent Challenges

Bashir has been suffering from a broken finger and struggled in the sole practice game against England Lions, returning overall statistics of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

This creates the scenario of Bashir playing in an Test against Australia without being affiliated with a domestic team

The agreement at the domestic team concluded at the finish of the English season

Expected Selection

Nevertheless, 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 initial game begins at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, expert analysis and real-time features available

Playing Group

Selected players for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (leader), Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Bashir

Historical Context

Although a number of England Ashes triumphs at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have not previously used as many express pace bowlers in the same team

The side that triumphed at domestically in the memorable competition of 2005 contained Steve Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

The captain's successful touring team to Australia in those years had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the England team that won in that period contained Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

This time around - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in modern times - England are looking to reverse an awful record - they have failed to win a Test match in Australia since over a decade ago

Merely five individuals of the extended squad have played a Test match in the host nation, but the bowler states that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an advantage," he mentioned to reporters

"We've seen a numerous athletes who have mentioned they have had some tough times down under

"Regarding our team, we are a quite calm, extremely confident squad

"No negative experiences

"It's thrilling

"The entire team views it as a huge opportunity to create history"

Host Team Situation

The host team's net session on Wednesday was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

The home side are likely to hand a first cap to opener Weatherald, with new fast bowler Brendan Doggett also being included due to fitness concerns to skipper Pat Cummins and teammate Hazlewood