🔗 Share this article

The English side has maintained flexibility for the initial Ashes match by including slow bowler Bashir in a squad of twelve together with five seamers

The fast bowler has recovered and appears likely to feature versus the Aussies in Perth on the weekend, with the last selection likely between the young spinner and seamer Brydon Carse

Wicket Factors

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four dedicated bowlers plus multi-skilled player the captain - it would possibly be the quickest collection of seamers they have used in an Ashes Test in this country

On Wednesday local wicket preparer McDonald commented to look for "speed and bounce" from the surface at the venue, and it appears probable the tourists will stick to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

However the tourists have also noted a lack of moisture to the wicket, putting Bashir into contention

Spin Considerations

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

The English management have backed the young spinner, 22 years old, as their main slow bowler for more than a year and in spring he became the most youthful English bowler to attain 50 wickets in Test matches

Yet he has missed a competitive game following securing the last dismissal in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the third match at the famous ground in July

Recent Issues

The spinner has been out with a hand problem and struggled in the sole practice game against the Lions, recording match figures of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

This creates the prospect of him playing in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a first-class side

His contract at Somerset expired at the finish of the English season

Likely Lineup

However, an visiting team featuring Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Stokes and Carse - every one of them are able to achieve 90 miles per hour - remains the probable result

The opening match begins at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, expert analysis and in-play highlights accessible

England Squad

Selected players for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a number of successful Ashes campaigns at domestically and internationally have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously used as many express pace bowlers in the equivalent side

The team that won at home in the memorable competition of that year included Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's triumphant visitors to Australia in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the English side that succeeded in those seasons featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in recent years - England are looking to reverse an difficult past - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in Australia since 2011

Only five members of the 16-man squad have participated in a Test match in Australia, but Atkinson says that could benefit the English team

"This might be an benefit," he told media outlets

"There have been a lot of players who have stated they have had difficult experiences down under

"In our case, we are a very relaxed, very positive group

"No scarring

"It's very exciting

"Everyone considers it a massive chance to do something special"

Australian Preparations

The host team's practice session on recently was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

The hosts are likely to hand a first cap to batsman Weatherald, with new pace bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in after injuries to captain Pat Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood