The English team Include Shoaib Bashir in Line-up for Ashes First Test

England have maintained flexibility for the series opener by selecting off-spinner the young spinner in a twelve-player team alongside five seamers

The fast bowler has been passed fit and seems set to play against Australia in Perth on Friday, with the final decision likely coming down to spinner Bashir and pace bowler Carse

Ground Situation

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four main pacers along with all-rounder the captain - it would arguably be the quickest collection of seamers they have fielded in an Test against Australia in this country

Recently Western Australia groundsman Isaac McDonald stated to look for "speed and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it looks possible the English will adhere to a traditional approach of an exclusively pace attack

But the English team have also observed a arid quality to the wicket, placing the off-spinner into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

During the brief existence of Perth Stadium - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the leading wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The English management have favored Shoaib, twenty-two, as their primary spin option for since last year and in recent months he achieved the youngest England bowler to achieve half-century of wickets in Tests

However he has not played a official match since securing the final wicket in a thrilling win over India in the final Test at Lord's in recently

Recent Issues

Bashir has been recovering from a hand problem and had challenges in the single preparation match against the Lions, posting overall statistics of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

This creates the prospect of Bashir playing in an Ashes match without being contracted with a county

The agreement at his county ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Expected Selection

Still, an England team featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching 90 miles per hour - stays the most likely outcome

The opening match commences at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, Test Match Special commentary and in-play highlights provided

England Squad

Selected players for series opener: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

While a several successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have not previously selected as numerous fast bowlers in the identical lineup

The lineup that succeeded at home in the memorable competition of that year included Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to Australia in those years had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that succeeded in those seasons featured Brian Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

This time around - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in modern times - the English team are hoping to reverse an awful record - they have not won a Test match in the host country since that year

Only five members of the sixteen-player group have experienced a international Test in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could help the visitors

"This might be an benefit," he mentioned to the press

"We've seen a lot of players who have said they have had challenging periods down under

"In our case, we are a quite calm, very positive group

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

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

Australian Preparations

The Australian net session on this week was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

Australia are likely to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with uncapped fast bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in due to health issues to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood