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England have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by including slow bowler Shoaib Bashir in a twelve-player team alongside five seamers

Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Perth Stadium on the weekend, with the final decision probably between off-spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Wicket Factors

If the visitors select an all-pace attack - four main pacers combined with multi-skilled player Stokes - it would possibly be the most rapid assembly of seamers they have fielded in an Ashes Test in Australia

On Wednesday local pitch curator Isaac McDonald said to anticipate "fast and bouncy conditions" from the wicket at the stadium, and it looks possible England will stick to a established strategy of an fast bowling focus

Yet the tourists have also observed a arid quality to the surface, putting the off-spinner into the running

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of Perth Stadium - five prior matches have been played here - Australia off-spinner Lyon is the top wicket-taker with 29

The English management have favored Shoaib, 22 years old, as their first-choice spinner for more than a year and in May he achieved the youngest England bowler to attain fifty wickets in international Tests

However he has missed a first-class game after claiming the last dismissal in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third Test at Lord's in recently

Recent Challenges

He has been recovering from a broken finger and had challenges in England's only warm-up match against England Lions, recording match figures of 2-151 from his bowling spell

This creates the prospect of him competing in an Test against Australia without being attached to a domestic team

His contract at Somerset ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

Nevertheless, an English side containing Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Carse - all of whom are capable of reaching 90mph - remains the most likely outcome

The opening match commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and live action clips provided

Playing Group

England squad for first Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (leader), Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Bashir

Team Background

Even though a various England Ashes triumphs at domestically and internationally have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the same team

The team that triumphed at domestically in the memorable competition of 2005 Ashes featured Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

The captain's successful touring team to Australia in that era had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in those seasons contained Brian Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

This time around - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in recent years - the English team are hoping to change an poor history - they have not won a Test in the host country since over a decade ago

Only five members of the extended squad have played a Test in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could benefit the English team

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

"There are a lot of players who have stated they have had difficult experiences in this country

"In our case, we are a extremely composed, extremely confident group

"No negative experiences

"It's very exciting

"The entire team views it as a massive chance to achieve something remarkable"

Host Team Situation

The Australian net session on this week was briefly delayed by the threat of lightning

Australia are probably going to give a debut to batsman Weatherald, with yet to debut pace bowler Doggett also joining following injuries to skipper Pat Cummins and teammate Hazlewood