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The tourists have maintained flexibility for the series opener by selecting spin bowler the young spinner in a squad of twelve combined with five fast bowlers

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

Ground Situation

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four main pacers combined with multi-skilled player Stokes - it would possibly be the fastest group of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes match in this country

Recently WA groundsman McDonald said to look for "pace and bounce" from the pitch at the stadium, and it appears probable the English will adhere to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

Yet the tourists have also noted a dryness to the pitch, putting Bashir into contention

Spin Considerations

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five earlier Tests have been hosted here - Australian spin bowler the experienced spinner is the leading wicket-taker with 29

The English management have favored Shoaib, 22, as their primary spin option for more than a year and in recent months he achieved the youngest England bowler to attain 50 wickets in Tests

Yet he has not played a official match following securing the concluding scalp in a exciting triumph over the Indian team in the third match at Lord's in July

Current Concerns

The spinner has been recovering from a finger injury and had challenges in England's only warm-up match against the development squad, posting combined figures of 2 for 151 from twenty-four overs

It also raises the prospect of him competing in an Ashes match without being affiliated with a county

His contract at Somerset ended at the end of the home summer

Likely Lineup

However, an English side including Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching 90 miles per hour - continues to be the most likely outcome

The first Test commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights accessible

Playing Group

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

Even though a number of England Ashes triumphs at in England and overseas have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the equivalent side

The side that triumphed at in England in the celebrated contest of that year included Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in 1970-71 had Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that triumphed in 1954-55 contained Brian Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting England-Australia contests in modern times - the visitors are looking to change an awful record - they have failed to win a Test match in Australia since over a decade ago

Merely five individuals of the extended squad have played a Test in the host nation, but Atkinson comments that could help the visitors

"This might be an positive," he explained to the press

"We've seen a lot of players who have mentioned they have had difficult experiences down under

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

"No bad memories

"It's very exciting

"We all see it as a huge opportunity to create history"

Host Team Situation

Australia's practice session on recently was briefly delayed by the possibility of bad weather

The hosts are likely to hand a first cap to opener Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Doggett also being included after fitness concerns to captain Pat Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood