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The tourists have maintained flexibility for the series opener by including off-spinner Bashir in a squad of twelve together with five pace bowlers

Mark Wood has been passed fit and is expected to participate facing the hosts in Perth Stadium on the weekend, with the last selection possibly between spinner Bashir and seamer Carse

Ground Situation

If England opt for an pace-only bowling lineup - four main pacers plus multi-skilled player the captain - it would potentially be the fastest group of bowlers they have used in an Ashes match in Australia

Earlier this week WA pitch curator McDonald said to expect "fast and bouncy conditions" from the pitch at the venue, and it looks possible the English will stick to a established strategy of an exclusively pace attack

But the tourists have also observed a lack of moisture to the wicket, placing Bashir into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

During the brief existence of the ground - five earlier Tests have been hosted here - Australian spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with 29

The team have favored Bashir, 22, as their main slow bowler for more than a year and in May he was recognized as the least experienced English bowler to attain half-century of wickets in international Tests

But he has not played a first-class game after claiming the final wicket in a exciting triumph over the Indian team in the third Test at the famous ground in July

Recent Issues

Bashir has been recovering from a broken finger and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, recording combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from his bowling spell

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

His deal at his county ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

Still, an visiting team including Wood, Archer, Atkinson, leader Stokes and Carse - all of whom are capable of reaching high speeds - remains the most likely outcome

The opening match commences at 02:20 GMT on the weekend, with instant commentary, Test Match Special commentary and in-play highlights provided

Playing Group

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

Past Experience

While a various English Ashes victories at domestically and internationally have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the equivalent side

The team that succeeded at in England in the celebrated contest of that year contained Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

The captain's triumphant visitors to Australia in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that won in that period contained Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - one of the most eagerly anticipated England-Australia contests in recent years - the visitors are looking to overturn an poor history - they have failed to win a Test match in the host country since 2011

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

"It could be an advantage," he told media outlets

"There are a many cricketers who have stated they have had challenging periods in this country

"For us, we are a quite calm, highly optimistic group

"No bad memories

"It's very exciting

"We all see it as a massive chance to create history"

Opposition News

Australia's net session on Wednesday was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

The home side are probably going to provide an opportunity to opener Jack Weatherald, with new seamer Brendan Doggett also coming in due to fitness concerns to skipper Pat Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood