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The tourists have maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by selecting off-spinner Bashir in a squad of twelve together with five pace bowlers

The fast bowler is declared fit and is expected to participate versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the last selection likely between off-spinner Bashir and fast bowler Carse

Ground Situation

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four specialists combined with all-rounder the captain - it would arguably be the most rapid assembly of bowlers they have fielded in an Ashes Test in Australia

On Wednesday Western Australia wicket preparer the curator stated to anticipate "speed and bounce" from the wicket at the stadium, and it looks possible the tourists will adhere to a traditional approach of an pace-only strategy

Yet the visitors have also spotted a dryness to the surface, placing Bashir into the running

Spinning Options

In the short history of this venue - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian spin bowler Lyon is the most successful bowler with 29

The English management have favored Shoaib, 22, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in May he achieved the least experienced English bowler to achieve half-century of wickets in international Tests

Yet he has not played a first-class game after securing the last dismissal in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the third match at Lord's in summer

Current Concerns

The spinner has been recovering from a broken finger and had challenges in England's only warm-up match against England Lions, recording overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

This presents the possibility of him competing in an Ashes Test without being affiliated with a county

His contract at his county concluded at the end of the home summer

Likely Lineup

Nevertheless, an English side including Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, captain Stokes and Carse - all of whom are capable of reaching 90 miles per hour - remains the probable result

The opening match commences at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with instant commentary, Test Match Special commentary and real-time features accessible

Playing Group

Selected players for series opener: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Historical Context

Even though a various successful Ashes campaigns at domestically and internationally have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously used as many express pace bowlers in the identical lineup

The team that succeeded at domestically in the memorable competition of that year featured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

The captain's winning English side to the host nation in that era had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that won in 1954-55 featured Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

On this occasion - among the most highly anticipated Ashes series in modern times - England are looking to change an difficult past - they have not won a Test match in the host country since that year

Only five members of the sixteen-player group have participated in a international Test in the host nation, but Atkinson comments that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an positive," he told reporters

"There are a numerous athletes who have said they have had some tough times down under

"For us, we are a extremely composed, very positive squad

"No negative experiences

"It's thrilling

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to create history"

Australian Preparations

Australia's net session on this week was briefly delayed by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are expected to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with uncapped pace bowler Brendan Doggett also joining after health issues to skipper Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Hazlewood