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England have maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by selecting spin bowler Shoaib Bashir in a twelve-player team alongside five fast bowlers

Wood is declared fit and appears likely to feature versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the last selection probably between spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Pitch Conditions

If England opt for an fast bowling unit - four specialists combined with multi-skilled player Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of pacemen they have deployed in an Ashes match in the host nation

Recently local groundsman the curator said to expect "fast and bouncy conditions" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it looks possible England will follow a established strategy of an fast bowling focus

But the English team have also noted a arid quality to the pitch, placing the off-spinner into contention

Spinning Options

In the short history of this venue - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australia off-spinner Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

England have backed Shoaib, 22 years old, as their main slow bowler for over twelve months and in spring he became the youngest England bowler to attain 50 wickets in Test matches

However he has been absent from a official match after claiming the concluding scalp in a dramatic victory over India in the third match at the famous ground in recently

Current Concerns

Bashir has been suffering from a hand problem and had challenges in the sole practice game against the development squad, posting overall statistics of 2-151 from twenty-four overs

This creates the possibility of Bashir participating in an Ashes Test without being affiliated with a county

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

Expected Selection

However, an English side containing Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Stokes and Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching 90 miles per hour - continues to be the most likely outcome

The opening match starts at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, expert analysis and real-time features available

Team Selection

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Smith (wk), Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

While a various English Ashes victories at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have not previously selected as numerous fast bowlers in the identical lineup

The team that won at domestically in the famous series of 2005 featured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's successful touring team to Australia in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the English side that succeeded in 1954-55 included Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in recent years - the English team are looking to overturn an difficult past - they have been unable to secure a Test in the host country since 2011

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

"This might be an positive," he told the press

"There are a many cricketers who have mentioned they have had some tough times in this country

"Regarding our team, we are a very relaxed, highly optimistic team

"No bad memories

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a massive chance to do something special"

Opposition News

The host team's training on recently was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

The home side are probably going to hand a first cap to batsman Weatherald, with uncapped fast bowler Doggett also joining due to fitness concerns to skipper Pat Cummins and teammate Hazlewood