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England have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by naming spin bowler Shoaib Bashir in a twelve-player team alongside five seamers

Wood has recovered and seems set to play versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the final decision possibly coming down to the young spinner and fast bowler Carse

Wicket Factors

If the visitors select an pace-only bowling lineup - four dedicated bowlers plus multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would arguably be the fastest group of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes match in Australia

On Wednesday local wicket preparer McDonald stated to expect "fast and bouncy conditions" from the surface at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely the English will stick to a traditional approach of an exclusively pace attack

But the visitors have also noted a lack of moisture to the pitch, putting the off-spinner into the running

Spin Considerations

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the top wicket-taker with 29

The team have supported the young spinner, twenty-two, as their first-choice spinner for over twelve months and in spring he became the most youthful English bowler to attain half-century of wickets in international Tests

However he has been absent from a official match since securing the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over India in the third Test at the famous ground in recently

Recent Challenges

Bashir has been recovering from a hand problem and had challenges in the sole practice game against England Lions, recording match figures of two wickets for 151 runs from his bowling spell

This creates the possibility of him competing in an Test against Australia without being affiliated with a county

His deal at his county expired at the end of the home summer

Probable Team

Still, an visiting team featuring Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, leader Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are likely to hit 90 miles per hour - stays the probable result

The first Test commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights accessible

Team Selection

Team lineup for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wk), Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Team Background

Although a several England Ashes triumphs at in England and overseas have been built on pace, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the same team

The side that succeeded at in England in the celebrated contest of 2005 Ashes contained Steve Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's successful touring team to Australia in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in that period contained Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

In this instance - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in recent years - England are looking to overturn an difficult past - they have failed to win a five-day game in the host country since 2011

Only five members of the 16-man squad have played a Test match in the host nation, but Atkinson comments that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an advantage," he told the press

"There are a lot of players who have said they have had challenging periods down under

"In our case, we are a quite calm, very positive group

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a great possibility to achieve something remarkable"

Opposition News

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

The home side are likely to provide an opportunity to opener Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Doggett also joining due to injuries to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood