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England have left decisions open for the series opener by naming spin bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad alongside five seamers

The fast bowler is declared fit and seems set to play versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the final decision possibly coming down to off-spinner Bashir and seamer Brydon Carse

Pitch Conditions

If England opt for an pace-only bowling lineup - four main pacers combined with all-rounder the captain - it would possibly be the quickest collection of seamers they have fielded in an Ashes match in Australia

On Wednesday local pitch curator the curator said to expect "speed and bounce" from the wicket at the stadium, and it appears probable the tourists will stick to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

Yet the English team have also noted a arid quality to the wicket, putting the spinner into consideration

Spinning Options

During the brief existence of the ground - five earlier Tests have been staged here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

The team have favored Shoaib, 22, as their first-choice spinner for over twelve months and in spring he achieved the least experienced English bowler to achieve 50 wickets in international Tests

Yet he has not played a first-class game following taking the final wicket in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the final Test at Lord's in summer

Recent Issues

He has been out with a finger injury and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, returning combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

It also raises the possibility of Bashir playing in an Ashes Test without being contracted with a first-class side

The agreement at Somerset ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

Nevertheless, an visiting team including Wood, Archer, Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are likely to hit high speeds - remains the expected conclusion

The initial game begins at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and live action clips provided

Team Selection

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

Historical Context

While a several successful Ashes campaigns at in England and overseas have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the same team

The team that won at domestically in the celebrated contest of 2005 contained Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to Australia in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the English side that won in those seasons included Statham and Tyson

Modern Context

On this occasion - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in recent years - the English team are looking to change an awful record - they have been unable to secure a Test in the host country since that year

Only five members of the extended squad have played a Test in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an benefit," he mentioned to media outlets

"There are a numerous athletes who have stated they have had difficult experiences here in Australia

"In our case, we are a extremely composed, highly optimistic squad

"No negative experiences

"It's very exciting

"We all see it as a huge opportunity to do something special"

Australian Preparations

The host team's training on recently was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are expected to give a debut to opener Jack Weatherald, with new seamer Brendan Doggett also joining after fitness concerns to skipper Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Hazlewood