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The English side has kept their options open for the series opener by including spin bowler the young spinner in a squad of twelve together with five fast bowlers

Mark Wood is declared fit and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the ultimate choice likely involving the young spinner and seamer Carse

Ground Situation

If England opt for an all-pace attack - four main pacers combined with all-rounder Stokes - it would potentially be the fastest group of pacemen they have fielded in an Ashes match in this country

On Wednesday Western Australia wicket preparer McDonald commented to look for "fast and bouncy conditions" from the wicket at the stadium, and it seems likely the English will follow a traditional approach of an fast bowling focus

Yet the English team have also observed a arid quality to the pitch, putting the spinner into the running

Slow Bowling Factors

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

England have backed Bashir, 22, as their first-choice spinner for more than a year and in spring he became the least experienced English bowler to reach half-century of wickets in Test matches

Yet he has been absent from a competitive game since securing the final wicket in a dramatic victory over India in the third match at Lord's in July

Current Concerns

The spinner has been out with a finger injury and had challenges in the single preparation match against the Lions, posting combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

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

The agreement at the domestic team expired at the end of the home summer

Probable Team

Still, an England team featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, skipper Stokes and Carse - all of whom are able to achieve 90 miles per hour - stays the probable result

The first Test starts at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, Test Match Special commentary and live action clips available

Team Selection

England squad for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (leader), Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Bashir

Historical Context

While a number of English Ashes victories at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have not previously used as many express pace bowlers in the identical lineup

The lineup that triumphed at home in the celebrated contest of 2005 Ashes featured Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to Australia in 1970-71 had Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that won in that period featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in recent years - the visitors are looking to overturn an poor history - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in Australia since that year

Just five players of the extended squad have participated in a international Test in Australia, but the bowler says that could benefit the English team

"This could represent an positive," he told media outlets

"We've seen a lot of players who have mentioned they have had difficult experiences down under

"Regarding our team, we are a quite calm, extremely confident group

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to achieve something remarkable"

Host Team Situation

The Australian practice session on recently was momentarily paused by the risk of storms

The hosts are probably going to give a debut to opener Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut pace bowler Doggett also coming in after fitness concerns to captain Cummins and colleague Hazlewood