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The English side has left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by naming slow bowler Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve alongside five pace bowlers

Wood has been passed fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the last selection possibly coming down to spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Wicket Factors

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four main pacers combined with all-rounder the captain - it would possibly be the fastest group of pacemen they have fielded in an Test against Australia in the host nation

Recently local groundsman McDonald said to look for "pace and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it looks possible England will stick to a established strategy of an fast bowling focus

Yet the tourists have also noted a arid quality to the pitch, placing the off-spinner into consideration

Spinning Options

In the short history of this venue - five prior matches have been staged here - Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with twenty-nine

The team have backed Bashir, 22, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in May he became the most youthful English bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Tests

Yet he has missed a first-class game since claiming the final wicket in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the third match at the famous ground in recently

Recent Issues

He has been recovering from a hand problem and found it difficult in the single preparation match against the development squad, returning combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

This creates the scenario of Bashir competing in an Ashes Test without being attached to a first-class side

The agreement at his county ended at the finish of the English season

Probable Team

However, an visiting team featuring Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Stokes and Carse - every one of them are able to achieve 90mph - remains the most likely outcome

The initial game starts at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and real-time features available

Playing Group

Selected players for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (captain), Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Archer, Bashir

Team Background

Even though a various successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been constructed around fast bowling, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the equivalent side

The side that won at in England in the celebrated contest of 2005 included Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

The captain's winning English side to the host nation in those years had Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the England team that won in 1954-55 featured Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in recent memory - England are hoping to change an awful record - they have been unable to secure a Test in the host country since 2011

Only five members of the extended squad have played a Test match in Australia, but Atkinson comments that could help the visitors

"This could represent an advantage," he mentioned to reporters

"There have been a many cricketers who have stated they have had challenging periods down under

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

"No scarring

"It's very exciting

"We all see it as a great possibility to achieve something remarkable"

Host Team Situation

The Australian training on Wednesday was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

Australia are likely to provide an opportunity to batsman Jack Weatherald, with uncapped pace bowler Doggett also being included after health issues to captain Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood