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England have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by selecting off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve alongside five fast bowlers

The fast bowler is declared fit and appears likely to feature against Australia in Western Australia on Friday, with the final decision probably between the young spinner and pace bowler Brydon Carse

Wicket Factors

If England opt for an fast bowling unit - four specialists along with multi-skilled player the captain - it would arguably be the fastest group of seamers they have deployed in an Ashes Test in Australia

Recently Western Australia pitch curator the curator commented to anticipate "speed and bounce" from the surface at the stadium, and it seems likely the English will adhere to a traditional approach of an pace-only strategy

But the tourists have also spotted a arid quality to the pitch, placing the off-spinner into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

During the brief existence of the ground - five previous Tests have been hosted here - Australia spin bowler Lyon is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

The English management have favored Bashir, 22 years old, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in spring he achieved the most youthful English bowler to achieve half-century of wickets in Tests

However he has not played a competitive game after taking the final wicket in a thrilling win over India in the third match at the famous ground in recently

Recent Challenges

The spinner has been suffering from a broken finger and had challenges in the sole practice game against the development squad, returning combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

It also raises the possibility of the spinner competing in an Test against Australia without being attached to a first-class side

His deal at his county ended at the finish of the English season

Likely Lineup

Nevertheless, an English side including Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are able to achieve 90 miles per hour - stays the probable result

The first Test starts at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and live action clips accessible

Team Selection

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

Historical Context

Even though a number of England Ashes triumphs at in England and overseas have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously used as multiple quick bowlers in the equivalent side

The side that succeeded at in England in the memorable competition of 2005 Ashes featured Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

The captain's triumphant visitors to Australia in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the England team that triumphed in 1954-55 featured Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

In this instance - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in recent memory - the visitors are aiming to change an awful record - they have been unable to secure a Test in the host country since over a decade ago

Only five members of the 16-man squad have participated in a Test in the host nation, but Atkinson comments that could help the visitors

"This might be an advantage," he explained to reporters

"We've seen a lot of players who have stated they have had challenging periods down under

"In our case, we are a extremely composed, very positive team

"No bad memories

"It's exhilarating

"Everyone considers it a massive chance to achieve something remarkable"

Opposition News

The Australian training on this week was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are likely to provide an opportunity to batsman Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Doggett also being included after health issues to skipper Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood