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The tourists have left decisions open for the series opener by naming spin bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad together with five fast bowlers

Mark Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the last selection probably between off-spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Ground Situation

If England opt for an all-pace attack - four specialists combined with multi-skilled player Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of bowlers they have fielded in an Ashes match in this country

Earlier this week WA wicket preparer McDonald stated to expect "fast and bouncy conditions" from the wicket at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely the English will stick to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

But the visitors have also observed a dryness to the pitch, placing Bashir into the running

Spinning Options

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

The English management have backed the young spinner, 22 years old, as their main slow bowler for over twelve months and in recent months he achieved the youngest England bowler to reach fifty wickets in Test matches

But he has been absent from a first-class game after securing the final wicket in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the third Test at Lord's in summer

Recent Issues

The spinner has been suffering from a finger injury and struggled in the sole practice game against the development squad, recording overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

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

The agreement at his county ended at the end of the home summer

Probable Team

However, an English side containing Wood, Archer, Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching high speeds - remains the probable result

The initial game commences at 2:20 AM GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, expert analysis and live action clips available

England Squad

England squad for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (captain), Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

Although a several England Ashes triumphs at in England and overseas have been founded on quick bowling, they have never fielded as multiple quick bowlers in the equivalent side

The team that triumphed at home in the famous series of 2005 Ashes featured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

The captain's winning English side to the host nation in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that won in 1954-55 contained Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

In this instance - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in recent years - the English team are hoping to reverse an poor history - they have failed to win a Test match in the host country since 2011

Just five players of the sixteen-player group have played a Test in Australia, but the bowler states that could work in England's favour

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

"There are a many cricketers who have mentioned they have had challenging periods in this country

"In our case, we are a quite calm, extremely confident squad

"No scarring

"It's very exciting

"We all see it as a huge opportunity to create history"

Host Team Situation

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

Australia are probably going to provide an opportunity to opener Weatherald, with new fast bowler Doggett also being included due to injuries to skipper Pat Cummins and colleague Hazlewood