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

Mark Wood is declared fit and appears likely to feature against Australia in Western Australia on the coming Friday, with the final decision probably involving spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Ground Situation

Should England choose an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists along with all-rounder Stokes - it would arguably be the most rapid assembly of bowlers they have fielded in an Ashes Test in the host nation

Earlier this week Western Australia wicket preparer the curator commented to expect "fast and bouncy conditions" from the pitch at the venue, and it seems likely England will follow a established strategy of an fast bowling focus

But the English team have also observed a dryness to the wicket, putting Bashir into the running

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australia off-spinner the experienced spinner is the most successful bowler with 29 dismissals

The team have backed the young spinner, 22 years old, as their primary spin option for over twelve months and in recent months he was recognized as the most youthful English bowler to attain half-century of wickets in Tests

But he has not played a competitive game after taking the concluding scalp in a exciting triumph over the Indian team in the third Test at Lord's in recently

Recent Challenges

Bashir has been recovering from a finger injury and struggled in the sole practice game against England Lions, recording combined figures of 2-151 from twenty-four overs

This presents the scenario of Bashir participating in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a county

His contract at his county expired at the end of the home summer

Probable Team

Nevertheless, an visiting team featuring Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Stokes and Carse - each of whom are able to achieve high speeds - continues to be the most likely outcome

The opening match begins at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights accessible

Playing Group

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

Past Experience

Although a number of successful Ashes campaigns at in England and overseas have been constructed around fast bowling, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the same team

The team that succeeded at domestically in the celebrated contest of that year featured Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the England team that triumphed in those seasons featured Brian Statham and Tyson

Modern Context

This time around - among the most highly anticipated Test series in recent years - England are hoping to overturn an awful record - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in the host country since over a decade ago

Just five players of the sixteen-player group have experienced a Test match in the host nation, but the bowler comments that could benefit the English team

"It could be an benefit," he explained to media outlets

"There have been a many cricketers who have said they have had difficult experiences in this country

"In our case, we are a very relaxed, extremely confident team

"No negative experiences

"It's very exciting

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

Opposition News

Australia's net session on this week was briefly delayed by the possibility of bad weather

The home side are likely to hand a first cap to batsman Jack Weatherald, with new fast bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in following injuries to skipper Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood