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The tourists have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by selecting off-spinner the young spinner in a squad of twelve alongside five fast bowlers

Wood has been passed fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Western Australia on the weekend, with the last selection likely between the young spinner and seamer the seamer

Pitch Conditions

If the visitors select an all-pace attack - four specialists plus multi-skilled player the captain - it would arguably be the most rapid assembly of pacemen they have fielded in an Ashes match in this country

Recently Western Australia pitch curator McDonald said to expect "fast and bouncy conditions" from the wicket at Perth Stadium, and it looks possible the English will stick to a traditional approach of an fast bowling focus

But the visitors have also observed a dryness to the surface, bringing Bashir into contention

Spin Considerations

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five previous Tests have been hosted here - Australian spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the top wicket-taker with twenty-nine

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

But he has missed a competitive game since securing the concluding scalp in a exciting triumph over India in the final Test at the famous ground in July

Current Concerns

Bashir has been out with a broken finger and found it difficult in the single preparation match against England Lions, posting overall statistics of 2 for 151 from his bowling spell

This presents the possibility of the spinner competing in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a domestic team

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

Expected Selection

Nevertheless, an visiting team featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are likely to hit 90 miles per hour - remains the probable result

The first Test commences at 2:20 AM GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, Test Match Special commentary and in-play highlights accessible

England Squad

Selected players for series opener: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

While a several English Ashes victories at in England and overseas have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as numerous fast bowlers in the same team

The team that triumphed at domestically in the famous series of that year included Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to Australia in those years had Bob Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that won in those seasons featured Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

This time around - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in modern times - England are looking to overturn an awful record - they have been unable to secure a Test match in Australia since 2011

Just five players of the sixteen-player group have played a international Test in the host nation, but Atkinson comments that could benefit the English team

"It could be an positive," he told reporters

"There are a numerous athletes who have said they have had difficult experiences down under

"For us, we are a quite calm, extremely confident group

"No bad memories

"It's very exciting

"The entire team views it as a massive chance to create history"

Opposition News

The host team's practice session on Wednesday was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

Australia are probably going to provide an opportunity to batsman Weatherald, with new pace bowler Doggett also joining due to health issues to skipper Pat Cummins and colleague Hazlewood