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England have left decisions open for the series opener by selecting off-spinner Bashir in a squad of twelve combined with five pace bowlers

Mark Wood has been passed fit and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Western Australia on Friday, with the final decision likely coming down to the young spinner and seamer Brydon Carse

Ground Situation

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four main pacers plus all-rounder Stokes - it would possibly be the quickest collection of bowlers they have used in an Ashes match in Australia

Earlier this week local pitch curator Isaac McDonald commented to anticipate "speed and bounce" from the wicket at the stadium, and it looks possible England will follow a established strategy of an exclusively pace attack

Yet the tourists have also observed a arid quality to the pitch, bringing the off-spinner into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of Perth Stadium - five prior matches have been played here - Australia spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the most successful bowler with 29 dismissals

The team have supported the young spinner, 22, as their primary spin option for over twelve months and in spring he became the most youthful English bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Test matches

Yet he has missed a first-class game since taking the last dismissal in a thrilling win over India in the third Test at Lord's in summer

Recent Challenges

He has been out with a finger injury and struggled in the single preparation match against the development squad, posting match figures of 2-151 from 24 overs

It also raises the prospect of Bashir competing in an Ashes Test without being attached to a county

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

Likely Lineup

Still, an England team including Wood, Archer, Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Carse - all of whom are likely to hit 90 miles per hour - stays the expected conclusion

The opening match starts at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights available

Playing Group

Selected players for series opener: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Brook, Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Team Background

Although a number of successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously selected as many express pace bowlers in the equivalent side

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

Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in 1970-71 had Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in that period included Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in recent memory - the visitors are looking to overturn an difficult past - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in Australia since 2011

Just five players of the sixteen-player group have experienced a Test in Australia, but Atkinson comments that could benefit the English team

"It could be an benefit," he explained to reporters

"We've seen a numerous athletes who have said they have had challenging periods here in Australia

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

"No scarring

"It's thrilling

"Everyone considers it a massive chance to do something special"

Host Team Situation

Australia's practice session on this week was momentarily paused by the risk of storms

The hosts are expected to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut seamer Brendan Doggett also coming in due to health issues to skipper Pat Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood