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The tourists have kept their options open for the initial Ashes match by selecting off-spinner the young spinner in a twelve-player team together with five pace bowlers

Mark Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Western Australia on the weekend, with the final decision likely between the young spinner and seamer the seamer

Pitch Conditions

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four main pacers plus all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the fastest group of pacemen they have fielded in an Test against Australia in Australia

On Wednesday Western Australia wicket preparer the curator said to expect "speed and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it looks possible England will adhere to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

However the tourists have also noted a dryness to the wicket, putting the spinner into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five previous Tests have been played here - Australian off-spinner Lyon is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

The English management have supported Shoaib, 22, as their first-choice spinner for since last year and in spring he became the least experienced English bowler to attain fifty wickets in Test matches

Yet he has been absent from a first-class game since securing the concluding scalp in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the final Test at the famous ground in July

Recent Issues

Bashir has been suffering from a hand problem and found it difficult in the single preparation match against the development squad, posting combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

It also raises the prospect of him participating in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a county

The agreement at the domestic team ended at the end of the home summer

Probable Team

Nevertheless, an English side including Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are likely to hit 90mph - stays the probable result

The first Test starts at early morning GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, expert analysis and in-play highlights accessible

Playing Group

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

While a number of English Ashes victories at domestically and internationally have been founded on quick bowling, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the identical lineup

The lineup that won at domestically in the memorable competition of 2005 Ashes featured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's triumphant visitors to the host nation in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that triumphed in 1954-55 contained Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

In this instance - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in modern times - the English team are looking to reverse an difficult past - they have been unable to secure 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 the bowler comments that could help the visitors

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

"We've seen a many cricketers who have stated they have had challenging periods down under

"Regarding our team, we are a quite calm, extremely confident team

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a great possibility to do something special"

Australian Preparations

The host team's training on this week was momentarily paused by the risk of storms

The home side are likely to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with uncapped fast bowler Doggett also coming in due to health issues to skipper Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood