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The English side has maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by naming off-spinner the young spinner in a squad of twelve together with five seamers

Wood has been passed fit and seems set to play facing the hosts in Perth on the coming Friday, with the last selection likely between the young spinner and seamer Brydon Carse

Pitch Conditions

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four specialists plus all-rounder the captain - it would arguably be the quickest collection of seamers they have used in an Test against Australia in this country

Recently WA groundsman McDonald stated to anticipate "fast and bouncy conditions" from the wicket at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely the tourists will follow a established strategy of an pace-only strategy

Yet the English team have also noted a dryness to the wicket, bringing the spinner into the running

Spinning Options

During the brief existence of the ground - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the top wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The English management have favored Shoaib, twenty-two, as their primary spin option for since last year and in recent months he became the least experienced English bowler to reach fifty wickets in international Tests

Yet he has not played a competitive game after taking the last dismissal in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third match at the famous ground in summer

Recent Issues

Bashir has been out with a finger injury and had challenges in the sole practice game against the development squad, recording overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

This presents the prospect of the spinner participating in an Test against Australia without being attached to a county

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

Likely Lineup

However, an visiting team including Mark Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - each of whom are likely to hit 90 miles per hour - continues to be the expected conclusion

The first Test commences at 02:20 GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, expert analysis and live action clips available

England Squad

Selected players for series opener: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a various successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the identical lineup

The team that won at domestically in the celebrated contest of 2005 included Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in those years had Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the England team that succeeded in that period included Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in recent years - the English team are looking to overturn an difficult past - they have been unable to secure a Test match in the host country since over a decade ago

Only five members of the extended squad have participated in a Test in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could benefit the English team

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

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

"In our case, we are a quite calm, very positive squad

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a massive chance to achieve something remarkable"

Host Team Situation

The Australian net session on recently was briefly delayed by the risk of storms

Australia are expected to hand a first cap to batsman Jack Weatherald, with new fast bowler Brendan Doggett also being included due to health issues to captain Cummins and colleague Hazlewood