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The English side has maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by naming slow bowler Bashir in a 12-man squad alongside five pace bowlers

Mark Wood has recovered and is expected to participate versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on the weekend, with the ultimate choice probably involving spinner Bashir and pace bowler Carse

Ground Situation

Should England choose an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists along with all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the fastest group of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes match in Australia

On Wednesday local wicket preparer McDonald stated to look for "fast and bouncy conditions" from the wicket at the stadium, and it seems likely the English will stick to a traditional approach of an fast bowling focus

But the English team have also noted a dryness to the surface, bringing the spinner into the running

Spinning Options

During the brief existence of the ground - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australian spin bowler the experienced spinner is the leading wicket-taker with 29

England have favored Shoaib, twenty-two, as their primary spin option for since last year and in May he was recognized as the least experienced English bowler to attain half-century of wickets in Test matches

However he has missed a first-class game after securing the final wicket in a thrilling win over India in the third match at the famous ground in recently

Recent Challenges

He has been suffering from a finger injury and found it difficult in the sole practice game against the Lions, returning overall statistics of 2-151 from twenty-four overs

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

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

Probable Team

Still, an visiting team featuring Mark Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, skipper Stokes and Carse - all of whom are likely to hit 90mph - remains the expected conclusion

The opening match starts at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with instant commentary, specialist radio coverage and real-time features available

Playing Group

England squad for series opener: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (skipper), Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Team Background

Even though a various successful Ashes campaigns at in England and overseas have been built on pace, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the same team

The team that won at in England in the famous series of that year included Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in 1970-71 had Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the English side that succeeded in that period contained Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - among the most highly anticipated Ashes series in recent memory - the visitors are aiming to overturn an poor history - they have not won a Test in Australia since 2011

Just five players of the 16-man squad have played a international Test in Australia, but Atkinson says that could help the visitors

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

"We've seen a many cricketers who have mentioned they have had challenging periods down under

"In our case, we are a very relaxed, highly optimistic squad

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a great possibility to achieve something remarkable"

Australian Preparations

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

Australia are probably going to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with new fast bowler Brendan Doggett also joining due to injuries to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Hazlewood