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The tourists have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by selecting slow bowler Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad combined with five seamers

The fast bowler is declared fit and appears likely to feature against Australia in Western Australia on Friday, with the final decision likely between off-spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Wicket Factors

If the visitors select an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists plus multi-skilled player Stokes - it would possibly be the fastest group of pacemen they have fielded in an Test against Australia in the host nation

Earlier this week WA pitch curator the curator commented to anticipate "pace and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it looks possible the English will stick to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

But the visitors have also spotted a arid quality to the wicket, bringing the spinner into consideration

Spin Considerations

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five earlier Tests have been played here - Australia spin bowler Lyon is the most successful bowler with 29

The team have favored Shoaib, 22 years old, as their primary spin option for more than a year and in May he achieved the least experienced English bowler to reach 50 wickets in Test matches

But he has not played a competitive game after taking the final wicket in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the final Test at the famous ground in summer

Recent Challenges

He has been suffering from a hand problem and struggled in the sole practice game against the development squad, recording overall statistics of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

This presents the prospect of the spinner playing in an Ashes match without being contracted with a domestic team

His contract at his county expired at the conclusion of the domestic season

Expected Selection

However, an English side including Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Carse - all of whom are able to achieve high speeds - stays the expected conclusion

The opening match begins at early morning GMT on the weekend, with instant commentary, Test Match Special commentary and in-play highlights accessible

Playing Group

Selected players for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

Although a several England Ashes triumphs at home and abroad have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously used as multiple quick bowlers in the identical lineup

The side that won at home in the famous series of 2005 contained Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's triumphant visitors to the host nation in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the English side that triumphed in those seasons contained Brian Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

This time around - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in recent years - the visitors are looking to change an difficult past - they have not won a Test match in the host country since 2011

Only five members of the 16-man squad have participated in a Test match in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could help the visitors

"It could be an benefit," he mentioned to the press

"We've seen a numerous athletes who have stated they have had challenging periods down under

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

"No bad memories

"It's very exciting

"We all see it as a massive chance to create history"

Opposition News

The host team's net session on recently was temporarily interrupted by the threat of lightning

Australia are probably going to give a debut to opener Weatherald, with yet to debut seamer Doggett also being included after health issues to captain Cummins and colleague Hazlewood