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The tourists have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by including slow bowler Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve together with five fast bowlers

The fast bowler is declared fit and seems set to play against Australia in Perth Stadium on Friday, with the ultimate choice likely coming down to off-spinner Bashir and pace bowler the seamer

Ground Situation

If England opt for an pace-only bowling lineup - four specialists plus all-rounder Stokes - it would possibly be the fastest group of pacemen they have used in an Ashes Test in this country

On Wednesday Western Australia groundsman Isaac McDonald stated to look for "speed and bounce" from the surface at the venue, and it appears probable the tourists will stick to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

However the English team have also spotted a dryness to the surface, bringing the off-spinner into contention

Spinning Options

In the short history of this venue - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian spin bowler Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with 29

The English management have backed Bashir, twenty-two, as their first-choice spinner for more than a year and in recent months he became the youngest England bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Test matches

But he has missed a competitive game following taking the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third Test at Lord's in recently

Recent Issues

The spinner has been suffering from a broken finger and had challenges in the sole practice game against England Lions, returning match figures of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

This creates the prospect of him playing in an Test against Australia without being affiliated with a county

His contract at his county ended at the finish of the English season

Likely Lineup

However, an visiting team featuring Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Stokes and Brydon Carse - each of whom are likely to hit 90 miles per hour - continues to be the probable result

The initial game begins at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and live action clips accessible

England Squad

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Team Background

While a several successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been built on pace, they have not previously used as many express pace bowlers in the same team

The team that won at in England in the famous series of 2005 Ashes included Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's successful touring team to Australia in those years had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in those seasons included Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

This time around - among the most highly anticipated Test series in modern times - the English team are looking to change an awful record - they have been unable to secure a Test match in Australia since that year

Just five players of the extended squad have experienced a Test in Australia, but Atkinson states that could benefit the English team

"This could represent an advantage," he explained to media outlets

"There have been a numerous athletes who have said they have had some tough times in this country

"In our case, we are a quite calm, highly optimistic squad

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

"The entire team views it as a huge opportunity to do something special"

Australian Preparations

The host team's practice session on recently was briefly delayed by the risk of storms

The home side are probably going to give a debut to opener Weatherald, with uncapped seamer Brendan Doggett also joining following health issues to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood