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The English side has left decisions open for the first Ashes Test by naming off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad together with five seamers

The fast bowler has been passed fit and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Western Australia on the weekend, with the ultimate choice possibly between off-spinner Bashir and pace bowler Carse

Ground Situation

If England opt for an pace-only bowling lineup - four main pacers plus multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the most rapid assembly of pacemen they have fielded in an Test against Australia in the host nation

Recently local wicket preparer McDonald stated to anticipate "speed and bounce" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely England will follow a established strategy of an exclusively pace attack

But the visitors have also spotted a dryness to the wicket, placing Bashir into contention

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of Perth Stadium - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australia off-spinner the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with twenty-nine

England have backed the young spinner, twenty-two, as their primary spin option for more than a year and in spring he was recognized as the most youthful English bowler to reach 50 wickets in international Tests

But he has not played a competitive game after taking the last dismissal in a exciting triumph over India in the third Test at the famous ground in recently

Recent Challenges

The spinner has been out with a finger injury and struggled in the sole practice game against England Lions, returning match figures of 2-151 from his bowling spell

This presents the prospect of him competing in an Ashes Test without being affiliated with a domestic team

His contract at the domestic team expired at the conclusion of the domestic season

Likely Lineup

Still, an English side containing Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Carse - each of whom are capable of reaching 90 miles per hour - remains the most likely outcome

The first Test starts at 2:20 AM GMT on the weekend, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and real-time features available

England Squad

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

While a number of England Ashes triumphs at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have never fielded as numerous fast bowlers in the identical lineup

The side that succeeded at domestically in the celebrated contest of 2005 included Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

The captain's successful touring team to the host nation in those years had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in that period featured Brian Statham and Tyson

Modern Context

In this instance - one of the most eagerly anticipated England-Australia contests in modern times - England are hoping to overturn an awful record - they have been unable to secure a Test match in the host country since over a decade ago

Merely five individuals of the 16-man squad have played a international Test in Australia, but Atkinson comments that could work in England's favour

"It could be an positive," he told reporters

"We've seen a lot of players who have mentioned they have had some tough times in this country

"Regarding our team, we are a extremely composed, extremely confident squad

"No negative experiences

"It's thrilling

"The entire team views it as a massive chance to achieve something remarkable"

Australian Preparations

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

Australia are expected to give a debut to batsman Weatherald, with yet to debut pace bowler Doggett also being included following health issues to skipper Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Hazlewood