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The English side has kept their options open for the initial Ashes match by naming slow bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad alongside five pace bowlers

Mark Wood is declared fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth Stadium on the coming Friday, with the last selection possibly involving off-spinner Bashir and fast bowler the seamer

Pitch Conditions

Should England choose an pace-only bowling lineup - four main pacers along with multi-skilled player Stokes - it would arguably be the most rapid assembly of pacemen they have fielded in an Ashes Test in this country

Recently WA groundsman Isaac McDonald stated to expect "pace and bounce" from the surface at the stadium, and it looks possible the tourists will stick to a traditional approach of an fast bowling focus

However the visitors have also noted a lack of moisture to the wicket, placing Bashir into the running

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australian spin bowler the experienced spinner is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

England have supported the young spinner, 22, as their main slow bowler for over twelve months and in recent months he was recognized as the least experienced English bowler to attain 50 wickets in Tests

Yet he has missed a official match after taking the final wicket in a thrilling win over India in the third Test at Lord's in recently

Current Concerns

Bashir has been recovering from a broken finger and had challenges in the single preparation match against England Lions, posting match figures of 2-151 from his bowling spell

This creates the possibility of the spinner playing in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a domestic team

His contract at his county concluded at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

However, an visiting team including Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Stokes and Carse - every one of them are able to achieve high speeds - remains the expected conclusion

The opening match starts at early morning GMT on the weekend, with live text coverage, expert analysis and in-play highlights provided

England Squad

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (leader), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

Even though a several England Ashes triumphs at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the identical lineup

The side that won at home in the memorable competition of 2005 Ashes contained Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

The captain's successful touring team to Australia in that era had Willis, Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that triumphed in those seasons featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

This time around - potentially the most exciting England-Australia contests in modern times - the English team are looking to change an awful record - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in Australia since over a decade ago

Merely five individuals of the sixteen-player group have participated in a Test match in Australia, but Atkinson comments that could help the visitors

"This might be an benefit," he told the press

"We've seen a numerous athletes who have mentioned they have had some tough times down under

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

"No negative experiences

"It's very exciting

"The entire team views it as a great possibility to create history"

Opposition News

Australia's training on this week was temporarily interrupted by the threat of lightning

The home side are expected to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with new seamer Brendan Doggett also coming in after health issues to captain Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood