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The tourists have maintained flexibility for the series opener by including slow bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad combined with five seamers

Wood has been passed fit and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the final decision likely between spinner Bashir and pace bowler Carse

Wicket Factors

If the visitors select an all-pace attack - four main pacers along with multi-skilled player Stokes - it would arguably be the fastest group of bowlers they have used in an Test against Australia in this country

On Wednesday Western Australia pitch curator McDonald commented to look for "pace and bounce" from the surface at Perth Stadium, and it appears probable the tourists will follow a traditional approach of an fast bowling focus

Yet the English team have also observed a arid quality to the pitch, bringing Bashir into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five earlier Tests have been played here - Australia off-spinner Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The team have favored the young spinner, twenty-two, as their main slow bowler for more than a year and in recent months he achieved the most youthful English bowler to reach half-century of wickets in Test matches

Yet he has been absent from a first-class game following claiming the last dismissal in a thrilling win over India in the third match at Lord's in summer

Recent Challenges

Bashir has been suffering from a broken finger and had challenges in the sole practice game against England Lions, recording combined figures of 2-151 from twenty-four overs

It also raises the possibility of the spinner competing in an Ashes Test without being contracted with a domestic team

His deal at Somerset concluded at the conclusion of the domestic season

Expected Selection

However, an visiting team containing Wood, Archer, Atkinson, skipper Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - each of whom are capable of reaching high speeds - remains the probable result

The first Test starts at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, expert analysis and in-play highlights accessible

Playing Group

England squad for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Smith (wicketkeeper), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

While a several England Ashes triumphs at domestically and internationally have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the identical lineup

The lineup that succeeded at domestically in the celebrated contest of 2005 Ashes contained Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's successful touring team to Australia in that era had Bob Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the English side that triumphed in 1954-55 featured Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

This time around - potentially the most exciting England-Australia contests in recent memory - the English team are hoping to overturn an difficult past - they have failed to win a five-day game in the host country since over a decade ago

Only five members of the 16-man squad have participated in a Test match in the host nation, but the bowler states that could benefit the English team

"This might be an advantage," he told media outlets

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

"For us, we are a very relaxed, very positive squad

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a great possibility to achieve something remarkable"

Opposition News

Australia's practice session on this week was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

Australia are likely to provide an opportunity to opener Jack Weatherald, with new fast bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in following injuries to skipper Pat Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood