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The English side has maintained flexibility for the initial Ashes match by including slow bowler Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad combined with five seamers

Mark Wood is declared fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth on Friday, with the final decision probably involving off-spinner Bashir and fast bowler Carse

Wicket Factors

If the visitors select an all-pace attack - four main pacers combined with all-rounder the captain - it would arguably be the quickest collection of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes match in the host nation

Earlier this week Western Australia pitch curator McDonald stated to look for "fast and bouncy conditions" from the surface at the venue, and it seems likely England will follow a long-standing plan of an fast bowling focus

However the tourists have also noted a dryness to the wicket, placing the off-spinner into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

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

The team have supported Bashir, twenty-two, as their primary spin option for since last year and in May he was recognized as the least experienced English bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Test matches

Yet he has not played a official match after claiming the concluding scalp in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the final Test at Lord's in July

Recent Issues

The spinner has been recovering from a finger injury and found it difficult in the single preparation match against England Lions, posting combined figures of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

It also raises the possibility of Bashir participating in an Ashes match without being affiliated with a county

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

Expected Selection

Nevertheless, an England team featuring Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Stokes and Brydon Carse - each of whom are likely to hit 90mph - remains the expected conclusion

The opening match starts at 2:20 AM GMT on the weekend, with live text coverage, expert analysis and in-play highlights available

Playing Group

England squad for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a number of successful Ashes campaigns at in England and overseas have been built on pace, they have not previously selected as many express pace bowlers in the same team

The lineup that won at domestically in the celebrated contest of 2005 contained Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to Australia in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the English side that triumphed in those seasons included Statham and Tyson

Modern Context

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting England-Australia contests in recent years - England are hoping to change an difficult past - they have failed to win a Test in the host country since over a decade ago

Just five players of the 16-man squad have played a Test match in the host nation, but the bowler states that could benefit the English team

"This might be an positive," he mentioned to media outlets

"There have been a numerous athletes who have said they have had some tough times down under

"Regarding our team, we are a very relaxed, extremely confident group

"No bad memories

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a huge opportunity to create history"

Australian Preparations

The host team's training on Wednesday was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are probably going to hand a first cap to batsman Jack Weatherald, with uncapped fast bowler Doggett also joining due to fitness concerns to captain Cummins and teammate Hazlewood