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England have kept their options open for the first Ashes Test by including off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve alongside five seamers

Mark Wood has been passed fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the last selection possibly coming down to the young spinner and fast bowler Carse

Pitch Conditions

If the visitors select an pace-only bowling lineup - four main pacers along with all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would arguably be the quickest collection of seamers they have fielded in an Ashes Test in this country

Earlier this week local wicket preparer McDonald said to anticipate "speed and bounce" from the surface at the stadium, and it looks possible the English will stick to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

But the tourists have also observed a lack of moisture to the surface, bringing the off-spinner into consideration

Spinning Options

In the short history of this venue - five prior matches have been hosted here - Australia off-spinner Lyon is the top wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The team have supported Bashir, 22, as their primary spin option for over twelve months and in recent months he was recognized as the youngest England bowler to attain fifty wickets in international Tests

But he has been absent from a first-class game after taking the concluding scalp in a dramatic victory over India in the third Test at Lord's in summer

Current Concerns

Bashir has been recovering from a hand problem and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the development squad, recording overall statistics of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

It also raises the possibility of Bashir playing in an Ashes Test without being affiliated with a domestic team

The agreement at his county expired at the finish of the English season

Expected Selection

Nevertheless, an visiting team including Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are able to achieve high speeds - continues to be the expected conclusion

The initial game commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, Test Match Special commentary and real-time features available

Playing Group

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Stokes (leader), Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

While a various successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have never fielded as numerous fast bowlers in the same team

The side that triumphed at in England in the famous series of 2005 featured Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in 1970-71 had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the English side that won in those seasons featured Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in modern times - the visitors are hoping to overturn an awful record - they have been unable to secure a Test in the host country since that year

Only five members of the extended squad have played a Test in Australia, but the bowler says that could benefit the English team

"It could be an benefit," he told reporters

"There are a numerous athletes who have mentioned they have had challenging periods in this country

"In our case, we are a very relaxed, highly optimistic team

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

"We all see it as a huge opportunity to do something special"

Host Team Situation

The host team's practice session on recently was briefly delayed by the possibility of bad weather

The home side are probably going to hand a first cap to batsman Weatherald, with uncapped pace bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in following health issues to captain Pat Cummins and teammate Hazlewood