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The English side has left decisions open for the series opener by including spin bowler Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad alongside five seamers

The fast bowler has recovered and seems set to play against Australia in Western Australia on the coming Friday, with the final decision probably between the young spinner and fast bowler the seamer

Ground Situation

If the visitors select an fast bowling unit - four dedicated bowlers plus multi-skilled player the captain - it would potentially be the quickest collection of bowlers they have deployed in an Test against Australia in the host nation

Earlier this week Western Australia wicket preparer the curator commented to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the wicket at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely the tourists will follow a established strategy of an pace-only strategy

But the English team have also spotted a dryness to the pitch, putting Bashir into contention

Spinning Options

In the short history of this venue - five prior matches have been played here - Australian spin bowler Lyon is the top wicket-taker with twenty-nine

England have favored Shoaib, twenty-two, as their main slow bowler for over twelve months and in recent months he was recognized as the youngest England bowler to attain fifty wickets in Test matches

However he has been absent from a first-class game after securing the last dismissal in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the third match at Lord's in recently

Current Concerns

The spinner has been recovering from a broken finger and found it difficult in the single preparation match against the Lions, posting overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

This creates the prospect of the spinner participating in an Ashes match without being attached to a county

His contract at Somerset concluded at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

Still, an England team featuring Wood, Archer, Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are capable of reaching high speeds - continues to be the most likely outcome

The first Test commences at early morning GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and real-time features accessible

England Squad

Selected players for series opener: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

While a several England Ashes triumphs at in England and overseas have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as many express pace bowlers in the identical lineup

The side that triumphed at home in the famous series of that year contained Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to Australia in those years had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that triumphed in 1954-55 contained Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

This time around - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in modern times - the visitors are looking to change an poor history - they have failed to win a Test match in Australia since 2011

Only five members of the sixteen-player group have experienced a international Test in the host nation, but the bowler comments that could help the visitors

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

"There have been a lot of players who have said they have had some tough times down under

"In our case, we are a quite calm, extremely confident team

"No bad memories

"It's exhilarating

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to create history"

Australian Preparations

The host team's training on this week was temporarily interrupted by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are likely to hand a first cap to opener Jack Weatherald, with uncapped seamer Brendan Doggett also joining following fitness concerns to captain Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood