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The English side has kept their options open for the series opener by including spin bowler Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad together with five fast bowlers

Wood has been passed fit and appears likely to feature versus the Aussies in Perth on the coming Friday, with the ultimate choice possibly involving the young spinner and fast bowler Carse

Pitch Conditions

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four dedicated bowlers along with multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would arguably be the quickest collection of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes Test in the host nation

On Wednesday WA groundsman the curator said to expect "pace and bounce" from the surface at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely the English will follow a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

Yet the English team have also spotted a arid quality to the surface, putting Bashir into the running

Slow Bowling Factors

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five earlier Tests have been hosted here - Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with twenty-nine

The team have favored the young spinner, twenty-two, as their main slow bowler for more than a year and in May he was recognized as the least experienced English bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Test matches

However he has been absent from a official match following claiming the last dismissal in a thrilling win over India in the third match at Lord's in summer

Current Concerns

The spinner has been out with a broken finger and had challenges in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, posting combined figures of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

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

His contract at the domestic team concluded at the finish of the English season

Probable Team

However, an England team containing Wood, Archer, Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are able to achieve high speeds - continues to be the probable result

The first Test starts at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, expert analysis and real-time features provided

England Squad

Team lineup for first Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Stokes (leader), Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a various English Ashes victories at domestically and internationally have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously used as many express pace bowlers in the equivalent side

The side that triumphed at home in the famous series of that year featured Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

The captain's triumphant visitors to Australia in 1970-71 had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that won in 1954-55 included Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in recent years - the visitors are hoping to reverse an poor history - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in Australia since that year

Only five members of the sixteen-player group have participated in a international Test in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could benefit the English team

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

"There are a lot of players who have said they have had some tough times down under

"For us, we are a very relaxed, highly optimistic group

"No scarring

"It's thrilling

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to achieve something remarkable"

Host Team Situation

Australia's practice session on Wednesday was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

The home side are probably going to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with new seamer Brendan Doggett also joining after health issues to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood