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England have kept their options open for the first Ashes Test by selecting off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve alongside five fast bowlers

Wood is declared fit and appears likely to feature versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on the weekend, with the ultimate choice probably coming down to off-spinner Bashir and seamer Brydon Carse

Pitch Conditions

If the visitors select an fast bowling unit - four dedicated bowlers plus multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would possibly be the fastest group of bowlers they have deployed in an Test against Australia in Australia

On Wednesday Western Australia pitch curator McDonald commented to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the surface at Perth Stadium, and it looks possible the tourists will follow a traditional approach of an fast bowling focus

But the tourists have also spotted a dryness to the wicket, putting the off-spinner into the running

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of this venue - five prior matches have been played here - Australian off-spinner Lyon is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

The English management have favored the young spinner, 22, as their main slow bowler for more than a year and in recent months he became the least experienced English bowler to attain half-century of wickets in Tests

But he has not played a official match since securing the final wicket in a exciting triumph over the Indian team in the third Test at the famous ground in July

Recent Challenges

He has been recovering from a broken finger and had challenges in England's only warm-up match against England Lions, returning match figures of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

This creates the possibility of Bashir competing in an Test against Australia without being affiliated with a county

His contract at Somerset concluded at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

Still, an English side featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Carse - each of whom are likely to hit 90mph - continues to be the expected conclusion

The opening match begins at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with instant commentary, expert analysis and real-time features accessible

England Squad

England squad for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (skipper), Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a number of English Ashes victories at in England and overseas have been constructed around fast bowling, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the equivalent side

The lineup that succeeded at home in the memorable competition of 2005 Ashes featured Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in those years had Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that won in that period included Statham and Tyson

Modern Context

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Test series in recent memory - England are hoping to change an difficult past - they have failed to win a five-day game in the host country since over a decade ago

Just five players of the sixteen-player group have experienced a Test match in the host nation, but the bowler states that could help the visitors

"This might be an advantage," he mentioned to media outlets

"There are a lot of players who have said they have had difficult experiences in this country

"Regarding our team, we are a extremely composed, highly optimistic group

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

"Everyone considers it a massive chance to create history"

Host Team Situation

The host team's net session on this week was temporarily interrupted by the possibility of bad weather

The hosts are likely to give a debut to opener Weatherald, with yet to debut pace bowler Doggett also coming in after fitness concerns to captain Cummins and teammate Hazlewood