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England have maintained flexibility for the series opener by selecting slow bowler Bashir in a 12-man squad alongside five seamers

Mark Wood has been passed fit and is expected to participate versus the Aussies in Western Australia on Friday, with the last selection possibly coming down to off-spinner Bashir and pace bowler Brydon Carse

Wicket Factors

If England opt for an fast bowling unit - four specialists combined with all-rounder Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of seamers they have fielded in an Test against Australia in the host nation

Earlier this week local wicket preparer McDonald said to expect "speed and bounce" from the wicket at the stadium, and it looks possible the tourists will adhere to a established strategy of an exclusively pace attack

However the visitors have also noted a dryness to the surface, putting the spinner into the running

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five previous Tests have been hosted here - Australia off-spinner the experienced spinner is the leading wicket-taker with twenty-nine

England have supported Bashir, 22 years old, as their first-choice spinner for since last year and in recent months he was recognized as the youngest England bowler to attain half-century of wickets in Tests

However he has missed a first-class game after claiming the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over India in the third match 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, posting combined figures of 2 for 151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the possibility of Bashir participating in an Ashes Test without being affiliated with a county

His contract at his county concluded at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

Still, an visiting team containing Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Carse - all of whom are able to achieve 90mph - continues to be the most likely outcome

The opening match commences at early morning GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights provided

Team Selection

England squad for series opener: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a various successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been constructed around fast bowling, they have never fielded as numerous fast bowlers in the equivalent side

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

Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in those years had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the England team that succeeded in that period included Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

This time around - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in modern times - the English team are aiming to change an awful record - they have failed to win a Test in Australia since that year

Merely five individuals of the 16-man squad have participated in a Test match in the host nation, but Atkinson states that could work in England's favour

"It could be an positive," he mentioned to reporters

"There have been a lot of players who have stated they have had challenging periods down under

"In our case, we are a quite calm, highly optimistic team

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

"The entire team views it as a huge opportunity to do something special"

Opposition News

The host team's training on recently was temporarily interrupted by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are expected to provide an opportunity to opener Weatherald, with uncapped seamer Doggett also being included due to injuries to captain Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood