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The English side has maintained flexibility for the initial Ashes match by including slow bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad combined with five pace bowlers

The fast bowler is declared fit and appears likely to feature versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on the coming Friday, with the ultimate choice likely coming down to spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Wicket Factors

Should England choose an pace-only bowling lineup - four main pacers combined with all-rounder the captain - it would arguably be the most rapid assembly of seamers they have fielded in an Ashes match in Australia

On Wednesday Western Australia pitch curator the curator stated to expect "fast and bouncy conditions" from the pitch at the stadium, and it appears probable England will adhere to a long-standing plan of an fast bowling focus

Yet the visitors have also observed a lack of moisture to the surface, placing Bashir into consideration

Spin Considerations

During the brief existence of this venue - five earlier Tests have been hosted here - Australian spin bowler the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with 29

The team have supported Bashir, 22, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in spring he became the youngest England bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Tests

But he has not played a competitive game since claiming the final wicket in a thrilling win over India in the third match at Lord's in recently

Current Concerns

The spinner has been suffering from a broken finger and struggled in the single preparation match against England Lions, recording combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

This creates the prospect of the spinner playing in an Ashes match without being contracted with a first-class side

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

Likely Lineup

However, an visiting team featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Stokes and Carse - each of whom are likely to hit high speeds - continues to be the expected conclusion

The opening match commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, expert analysis and real-time features accessible

Team Selection

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (leader), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Historical Context

Even though a several England Ashes triumphs at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the identical lineup

The lineup that won at in England in the memorable competition of 2005 contained Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in those years had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the English side that won in those seasons featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in modern times - the visitors are hoping to overturn an difficult past - they have not won a Test in the host country since 2011

Only five members of the 16-man squad have participated in a Test match in Australia, but Atkinson comments that could work in England's favour

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

"There have been a numerous athletes who have mentioned they have had some tough times down under

"For us, we are a very relaxed, extremely confident group

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a great possibility to achieve something remarkable"

Opposition News

The Australian net session on this week was temporarily interrupted by the possibility of bad weather

The hosts are probably going to give a debut to batsman Weatherald, with uncapped seamer Doggett also coming in following health issues to captain Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood