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England have left decisions open for the first Ashes Test by selecting slow bowler the young spinner in a twelve-player team together with five seamers

Wood is declared fit and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Perth on the coming Friday, with the ultimate choice probably coming down to off-spinner Bashir and pace bowler Carse

Ground Situation

If England opt for an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists combined with all-rounder the captain - it would arguably be the most rapid assembly of bowlers they have fielded in an Ashes match in this country

On Wednesday Western Australia pitch curator the curator said to look for "pace and bounce" from the pitch at the venue, and it appears probable the tourists will stick to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

But the tourists have also noted a arid quality to the wicket, putting the off-spinner into consideration

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of Perth Stadium - five earlier Tests have been staged here - Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the top wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The team have supported Bashir, 22, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in recent months he was recognized as the most youthful English bowler to reach half-century of wickets in international Tests

Yet he has missed a official match after securing the final wicket in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the final Test at Lord's in recently

Recent Challenges

The spinner has been suffering from a broken finger and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the development squad, recording overall statistics of 2-151 from 24 overs

This creates the prospect of Bashir participating in an Ashes match without being attached to a county

The agreement at Somerset ended at the end of the home summer

Likely Lineup

Still, an England team including Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, leader Stokes and Brydon Carse - each of whom are capable of reaching high speeds - remains the expected conclusion

The opening match begins at early morning GMT on the weekend, with instant commentary, expert analysis and real-time features available

England Squad

England squad for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Historical Context

Although a number of England Ashes triumphs at in England and overseas have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously selected as many express pace bowlers in the identical lineup

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

Raymond Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in 1970-71 had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the England team that triumphed in 1954-55 included Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

In this instance - potentially the most exciting England-Australia contests in recent years - the English team are aiming to change an awful record - they have been unable to secure a Test in the host country since over a decade ago

Only five members of the sixteen-player group have experienced a Test in Australia, but Atkinson says that could help the visitors

"It could be an advantage," he mentioned to media outlets

"There have been a numerous athletes who have mentioned they have had challenging periods in this country

"Regarding our team, we are a very relaxed, highly optimistic group

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a great possibility to do something special"

Host Team Situation

The Australian training on this week was momentarily paused by the risk of storms

The hosts are expected to hand a first cap to batsman Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Doggett also being included following fitness concerns to captain Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood