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The tourists have kept their options open for the series opener by selecting off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad combined with five seamers

The fast bowler has been passed fit and appears likely to feature against Australia in Western Australia on the coming Friday, with the final decision probably coming down to off-spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Pitch Conditions

If England opt for an fast bowling unit - four main pacers along with all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the most rapid assembly of pacemen they have fielded in an Ashes match in Australia

Recently local groundsman McDonald said to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the surface at the stadium, and it seems likely England will adhere to a traditional approach of an pace-only strategy

Yet the tourists have also spotted a arid quality to the pitch, putting Bashir into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of the ground - five earlier Tests have been played here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with 29

The team have supported the young spinner, twenty-two, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in recent months he achieved the most youthful English bowler to reach half-century of wickets in Test matches

But he has not played a competitive game after taking the last dismissal in a exciting triumph over the Indian team in the final Test at Lord's in July

Recent Challenges

The spinner has been suffering from a broken finger and had challenges in England's only warm-up match against England Lions, posting overall statistics of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

This creates the possibility of him competing in an Ashes match without being contracted with a first-class side

His deal at the domestic team ended at the end of the home summer

Probable Team

However, an England team featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are able to achieve 90 miles per hour - continues to be the expected conclusion

The initial game begins at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with instant commentary, expert analysis and real-time features provided

Playing Group

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (leader), Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a various English Ashes victories at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have never fielded as multiple quick bowlers in the same team

The lineup that succeeded at domestically in the celebrated contest of that year contained Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

The captain's winning English side to Australia in that era had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in that period contained Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

This time around - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in recent years - the visitors are hoping to overturn an awful record - they have failed to win a five-day game in Australia since over a decade ago

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

"This might be an advantage," he explained to media outlets

"We've seen a lot of players who have said they have had some tough times here in Australia

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

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a huge opportunity to create history"

Host Team Situation

Australia's net session on this week was briefly delayed by the risk of storms

The home side are expected to hand a first cap to batsman Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Brendan Doggett also joining due to health issues to captain Cummins and colleague Hazlewood