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The English side has kept their options open for the initial Ashes match by including spin bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad together with five pace bowlers

Wood has been passed fit and is expected to participate facing the hosts in Perth on the weekend, with the last selection possibly coming down to the young spinner and pace bowler Brydon Carse

Ground Situation

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four specialists combined with multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of pacemen they have used in an Ashes Test in this country

Earlier this week local wicket preparer the curator said to look for "speed and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it seems likely England will adhere to a traditional approach of an exclusively pace attack

However the visitors have also noted a lack of moisture to the surface, bringing the spinner into contention

Spinning Options

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five prior matches have been staged here - Australian spin bowler Lyon is the most successful bowler with twenty-nine

England have favored Shoaib, 22, as their primary spin option for more than a year and in recent months he was recognized as the most youthful English bowler to achieve half-century of wickets in international Tests

But he has not played a official match after taking the final wicket in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the third Test at Lord's in July

Current Concerns

Bashir has been out with a finger injury and found it difficult in the single preparation match against the development squad, returning combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from his bowling spell

This presents the possibility of him competing in an Ashes match without being affiliated with a county

His contract at the domestic team concluded at the end of the home summer

Expected Selection

Still, an England team featuring Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are likely to hit 90mph - stays the probable result

The first Test commences at 2:20 AM GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, expert analysis and real-time features available

Playing Group

England squad for first Ashes Test: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Historical Context

Even though a several successful Ashes campaigns at in England and overseas have been founded on quick bowling, they have never fielded as numerous fast bowlers in the identical lineup

The side that triumphed at domestically in the memorable competition of that year contained Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's successful touring team to the host nation in 1970-71 had Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that succeeded in those seasons featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

On this occasion - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in recent memory - the English team are aiming to change an difficult past - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in the host country since that year

Only five members of the 16-man squad have experienced a Test in Australia, but the bowler comments that could work in England's favour

"It could be an benefit," he explained to reporters

"There have been a numerous athletes who have said they have had challenging periods in this country

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

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

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

Host Team Situation

The Australian net session on Wednesday was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

The home side are expected to provide an opportunity to opener Weatherald, with yet to debut seamer Brendan Doggett also coming in after health issues to captain Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Hazlewood