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England have maintained flexibility for the series opener by selecting slow bowler Shoaib Bashir in a twelve-player team combined with five pace bowlers

The fast bowler has been passed fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Western Australia on the weekend, with the final decision possibly involving the young spinner and seamer Carse

Pitch Conditions

If the visitors select an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists along with all-rounder Stokes - it would potentially be the fastest group of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes Test in Australia

Earlier this week Western Australia pitch curator Isaac McDonald commented to look for "pace and bounce" from the pitch at the venue, and it appears probable England will stick to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

However the English team have also observed a dryness to the wicket, bringing Bashir into contention

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five previous Tests have been hosted here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the leading wicket-taker with 29

The team have backed the young spinner, 22, as their main slow bowler for more than a year and in May he became the most youthful English bowler to achieve 50 wickets in international Tests

However he has not played a official match following taking the final wicket in a exciting triumph over India in the third match at Lord's in July

Recent Issues

The spinner has been out with a broken finger and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, returning overall statistics of 2 for 151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the scenario of the spinner participating in an Ashes Test without being affiliated with a domestic team

The agreement at his county expired at the conclusion of the domestic season

Likely Lineup

However, an England team containing Wood, Archer, Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are able to achieve 90 miles per hour - stays the expected conclusion

The opening match commences at early morning GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and live action clips available

England Squad

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (captain), Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

While a number of England Ashes triumphs at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have not previously used as many express pace bowlers in the equivalent side

The lineup that won at in England in the famous series of that year featured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

The captain's triumphant visitors to Australia in 1970-71 had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the English side that triumphed in 1954-55 contained Brian Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting England-Australia contests in modern times - the visitors are hoping to overturn an poor history - they have been unable to secure a Test in Australia since that year

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

"It could be an benefit," he told media outlets

"There are a lot of players who have said they have had difficult experiences in this country

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

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a massive chance to create history"

Opposition News

The Australian practice session on Wednesday was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

The hosts are likely to hand a first cap to opener Weatherald, with uncapped pace bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in following health issues to captain Pat Cummins and colleague Hazlewood