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The English side has maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by selecting spin bowler Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad alongside five fast bowlers

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

Ground Situation

Should England choose an pace-only bowling lineup - four dedicated bowlers plus multi-skilled player Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of bowlers they have deployed in an Test against Australia in the host nation

On Wednesday WA groundsman Isaac McDonald stated to look for "speed and bounce" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it seems likely the English will stick to a traditional approach of an fast bowling focus

But the English team have also noted a lack of moisture to the pitch, putting the off-spinner into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five earlier Tests have been hosted here - Australian spin bowler Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with twenty-nine

The team have favored Shoaib, 22 years old, as their primary spin option for since last year and in recent months he achieved the most youthful English bowler to achieve half-century of wickets in international Tests

But he has missed a competitive game after taking the last dismissal in a exciting triumph over India in the third Test at the famous ground in recently

Recent Issues

Bashir has been recovering from a hand problem and had challenges in England's only warm-up match against the development squad, recording overall statistics of 2-151 from 24 overs

This creates the possibility of Bashir competing in an Ashes Test without being contracted with a county

His deal at the domestic team ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Likely Lineup

However, an England team including Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, skipper Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching high speeds - continues to be the expected conclusion

The opening match starts at 2:20 AM GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, expert analysis and real-time features available

England Squad

Team lineup for series opener: Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root, Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

Although a several successful Ashes campaigns at domestically and internationally have been constructed around fast bowling, they have never fielded as multiple quick bowlers in the equivalent side

The lineup that triumphed at in England in the celebrated contest of 2005 Ashes included Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

The captain's winning English side to the host nation in that era had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in that period contained Statham and Tyson

Modern Context

In this instance - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in recent memory - the visitors are hoping to reverse an difficult past - they have not won a five-day game in the host country since that year

Merely five individuals of the sixteen-player group have participated in a Test in the host nation, but the bowler comments that could help the visitors

"This might be an benefit," he explained to the press

"We've seen a lot of players who have mentioned they have had some tough times down under

"For us, we are a extremely composed, extremely confident group

"No bad memories

"It's exhilarating

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

Host Team Situation

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

Australia are probably going to provide an opportunity to opener Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Doggett also being included due to health issues to skipper Pat Cummins and colleague Josh Hazlewood