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The English side has left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by selecting slow bowler Bashir in a 12-man squad combined with five seamers

Mark Wood is declared fit and appears likely to feature against Australia in Perth on Friday, with the last selection probably between the young spinner and pace bowler Carse

Ground Situation

Should England choose an pace-only bowling lineup - four main pacers plus multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would possibly be the fastest group of pacemen they have fielded in an Ashes match in Australia

Recently Western Australia groundsman the curator commented to look for "pace and bounce" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely the tourists will follow a long-standing plan of an fast bowling focus

But the visitors have also spotted a arid quality to the wicket, putting the spinner into consideration

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of the ground - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the most successful bowler with 29

The English management have supported the young spinner, 22, as their main slow bowler for over twelve months and in recent months he became the most youthful English bowler to attain half-century of wickets in Test matches

However he has not played a first-class game following securing the last dismissal in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the third Test at Lord's in summer

Recent Issues

He has been out with a hand problem and found it difficult in the single preparation match against England Lions, posting combined figures of 2 for 151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the scenario of Bashir playing in an Ashes match without being contracted with a domestic team

The agreement at Somerset ended at the finish of the English season

Probable Team

However, an visiting team featuring Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Carse - all of whom are able to achieve 90mph - continues to be the probable result

The opening match begins at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights provided

England Squad

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (leader), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

Although a number of successful Ashes campaigns at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the equivalent side

The lineup that succeeded at in England in the celebrated contest of 2005 Ashes included Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's successful touring team to the host nation in that era had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the England team that triumphed in those seasons contained Statham and Tyson

Modern Context

On this occasion - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in modern times - the English team are aiming to reverse an difficult past - they have not won a Test in the host country since 2011

Only five members of the sixteen-player group have participated in a international Test in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could help the visitors

"This might be an advantage," he mentioned to media outlets

"There have been a many cricketers who have stated they have had difficult experiences here in Australia

"For us, we are a extremely composed, highly optimistic squad

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a massive chance to achieve something remarkable"

Australian Preparations

Australia's practice session on recently was momentarily paused by the risk of storms

The home side are likely to hand a first cap to opener Weatherald, with uncapped pace bowler Brendan Doggett also joining following health issues to skipper Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood