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The tourists have left decisions open for the first Ashes Test by selecting spin bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad alongside five pace bowlers

Wood has recovered and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth on the coming Friday, with the final decision probably coming down to spinner Bashir and seamer Carse

Pitch Conditions

If the visitors select an all-pace attack - four specialists plus multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of pacemen they have fielded in an Ashes Test in this country

Recently local wicket preparer the curator stated to look for "speed and bounce" from the pitch at the stadium, and it looks possible the tourists will follow a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

Yet the tourists have also observed a arid quality to the surface, placing the spinner into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

During the brief existence of the ground - five previous Tests have been played here - Australian spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the top wicket-taker with twenty-nine

England have backed the young spinner, 22, as their first-choice spinner for more than a year and in spring he achieved the least experienced English bowler to achieve 50 wickets in Test matches

But he has not played a competitive game following securing the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third Test at the famous ground in summer

Recent Challenges

The spinner has been recovering from a finger injury and found it difficult in the sole practice game against the Lions, returning combined figures of 2-151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the prospect of him participating in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a county

His contract at his county ended at the finish of the English season

Probable Team

Still, an English side featuring Wood, Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are likely to hit 90mph - continues to be the most likely outcome

The opening match begins at early morning GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, expert analysis and real-time features provided

Playing Group

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Historical Context

While a various England Ashes triumphs at in England and overseas have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously selected as numerous fast bowlers in the same team

The side that triumphed at home in the famous series of 2005 contained Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in that era had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that triumphed in 1954-55 included Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - among the most highly anticipated Ashes series in modern times - the visitors are aiming to change an difficult past - they have been unable to secure a Test match in Australia since over a decade ago

Just five players of the 16-man squad have played a Test in the host nation, but the bowler states that could benefit the English team

"This could represent an benefit," he explained to media outlets

"There are a numerous athletes who have said they have had challenging periods in this country

"Regarding our team, we are a quite calm, highly optimistic group

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

"We all see it as a great possibility to create history"

Australian Preparations

The Australian net session on this week was briefly delayed by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are likely to give a debut to batsman Weatherald, with new fast bowler Doggett also being included after fitness concerns to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Hazlewood