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England have maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by naming spin bowler Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve together with five fast bowlers

Wood is declared fit and is expected to participate facing the hosts in Western Australia on the coming Friday, with the final decision probably involving off-spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Ground Situation

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four specialists plus multi-skilled player the captain - it would possibly be the most rapid assembly of pacemen they have fielded in an Test against Australia in this country

Earlier this week Western Australia wicket preparer Isaac McDonald stated to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the wicket at the stadium, and it appears probable England will stick to a traditional approach of an exclusively pace attack

But the tourists have also spotted a dryness to the wicket, putting the spinner into the running

Slow Bowling Factors

Throughout the limited timeframe of Perth Stadium - five prior matches have been staged here - Australia off-spinner the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with twenty-nine

The English management have favored Bashir, 22, as their main slow bowler for more than a year and in recent months he was recognized as the youngest England bowler to reach half-century of wickets in international Tests

Yet he has been absent from a first-class game following taking the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third Test at Lord's in July

Recent Issues

The spinner has been suffering from a broken finger and found it difficult in the single preparation match against the development squad, recording combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

This creates the scenario of him playing in an Ashes match without being affiliated with a domestic team

The agreement at the domestic team ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Likely Lineup

However, an English side featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Stokes and Brydon Carse - each of whom are able to achieve 90 miles per hour - continues to be the expected conclusion

The initial game commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, expert analysis and live action clips available

Playing Group

Selected players for series opener: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Team Background

While a number of English Ashes victories at domestically and internationally have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as numerous fast bowlers in the equivalent side

The team that won at in England in the memorable competition of that year featured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to the host nation in those years had Willis, Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in those seasons contained Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

This time around - among the most highly anticipated Ashes series in modern times - the visitors are aiming to change an awful record - they have failed to win a Test match in Australia since that year

Merely five individuals of the extended squad have played a Test in Australia, but the bowler comments that could work in England's favour

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

"We've seen a lot of players who have stated they have had challenging periods down under

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

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

"We all see it as a huge opportunity to do something special"

Opposition News

Australia's training on Wednesday was briefly delayed by the threat of lightning

Australia are expected to hand a first cap to opener Weatherald, with uncapped fast bowler Doggett also coming in following health issues to skipper Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood