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England have left decisions open for the series opener by including off-spinner the young spinner in a squad of twelve combined with five seamers

Mark Wood has been passed fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth on Friday, with the final decision likely involving the young spinner and pace bowler Carse

Wicket Factors

If the visitors select an fast bowling unit - four dedicated bowlers combined with all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of pacemen they have used in an Ashes match in this country

Earlier this week Western Australia pitch curator McDonald stated to look for "pace and bounce" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely England will adhere to a long-standing plan of an fast bowling focus

However the tourists have also observed a dryness to the wicket, putting Bashir into contention

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the top wicket-taker with 29

The team have backed Shoaib, 22 years old, as their primary spin option for over twelve months and in recent months he became the youngest England bowler to achieve half-century of wickets in Test matches

Yet he has missed a competitive game following securing the final wicket in a exciting triumph over the Indian team in the third Test at Lord's in summer

Recent Challenges

Bashir has been recovering from a finger injury and had challenges in the sole practice game against England Lions, posting overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from his bowling spell

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

His contract at his county expired at the conclusion of the domestic season

Expected Selection

Nevertheless, an visiting team including Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are likely to hit high speeds - remains the expected conclusion

The initial game begins at early morning GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, Test Match Special commentary and live action clips available

England Squad

Selected players for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (captain), Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Historical Context

Although a various successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have not previously selected as numerous fast bowlers in the equivalent side

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

Raymond Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in those years had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the English side that succeeded in that period included Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Test series in recent years - the English team are aiming to reverse an difficult past - they have failed to win a Test in Australia since over a decade ago

Merely five individuals of the 16-man squad have played a Test match in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could help the visitors

"This could represent an positive," he explained to media outlets

"There are a many cricketers who have stated they have had challenging periods here in Australia

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

"No scarring

"It's thrilling

"Everyone considers it a great possibility to do something special"

Opposition News

The host team's training on this week was temporarily interrupted by the threat of lightning

The home side are probably going to provide an opportunity to opener Jack Weatherald, with new pace bowler Doggett also coming in following fitness concerns to skipper Cummins and colleague Hazlewood