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England have maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by naming off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve alongside five fast bowlers

Wood has been passed fit and appears likely to feature versus the Aussies in Perth on Friday, with the last selection likely between off-spinner Bashir and fast bowler the seamer

Ground Situation

If England opt for an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists along with multi-skilled player Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of pacemen they have deployed in an Ashes Test in this country

On Wednesday local groundsman Isaac McDonald said to look for "speed and bounce" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely England will adhere to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

Yet the English team have also spotted a dryness to the wicket, putting Bashir into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of this venue - five prior matches have been staged here - Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the most successful bowler with 29 dismissals

England have supported Shoaib, 22 years old, as their first-choice spinner for since last year and in recent months he was recognized as the least experienced English bowler to achieve 50 wickets in Test matches

But he has missed a first-class game after securing the final wicket in a exciting triumph over the Indian team in the third match at Lord's in recently

Recent Issues

He has been recovering from a finger injury and had challenges in the single preparation match against the Lions, recording overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from his bowling spell

This creates the prospect of the spinner competing in an Ashes match without being contracted with a domestic team

His deal at the domestic team ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Expected Selection

However, an visiting team containing Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching high speeds - continues to be the expected conclusion

The first Test starts at 02:20 GMT on the weekend, with instant commentary, expert analysis and in-play highlights accessible

England Squad

Selected players for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Bashir

Historical Context

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 domestically in the celebrated contest of that year featured Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in 1970-71 had Willis, Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that won in 1954-55 contained Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

This time around - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in recent memory - the visitors are looking to overturn an poor history - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in the host country since 2011

Merely five individuals of the 16-man squad have participated in a Test in Australia, but Atkinson comments that could help the visitors

"This might be an positive," he mentioned to media outlets

"We've seen a numerous athletes who have said they have had challenging periods here in Australia

"For us, we are a very relaxed, very positive squad

"No bad memories

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a huge opportunity to create history"

Australian Preparations

The host team's practice session on Wednesday was briefly delayed by the risk of storms

Australia are expected to give a debut to opener Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut seamer Doggett also joining after health issues to skipper Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood