The visitors Name the off-spinner in Squad for The Ashes series First Test

The English side has maintained flexibility for the series opener by including slow bowler Bashir in a twelve-player team combined with five pace bowlers

Wood is declared fit and seems set to play versus the Aussies in Perth Stadium on the weekend, with the last selection probably coming down to the young spinner and pace bowler the seamer

Ground Situation

If the visitors select an fast bowling unit - four specialists plus all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would possibly be the most rapid assembly of seamers they have fielded in an Ashes Test in Australia

Earlier this week Western Australia groundsman McDonald said to anticipate "fast and bouncy conditions" from the wicket at the venue, and it appears probable the tourists will stick to a established strategy of an pace-only strategy

Yet the visitors have also observed a dryness to the pitch, placing the off-spinner into contention

Spinning Options

During the brief existence of Perth Stadium - five prior matches have been played here - Australia spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the most successful bowler with 29 dismissals

England have supported the young spinner, twenty-two, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in May he was recognized as the least experienced English bowler to reach fifty wickets in Test matches

Yet he has been absent from a official match since securing the final wicket in a dramatic victory over India in the third match at the famous ground in recently

Recent Challenges

Bashir has been suffering from a finger injury and found it difficult in the sole practice game against England Lions, recording overall statistics of 2 for 151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the scenario of the spinner competing in an Test against Australia without being affiliated with a county

The agreement at his county ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

Nevertheless, an England team including Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, captain Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are able to achieve 90mph - continues to be the probable result

The initial game starts at 02:20 GMT on the weekend, with live text coverage, Test Match Special commentary and live action clips available

Playing Group

Team lineup for first Ashes Test: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Historical Context

While a number of successful Ashes campaigns at home and abroad have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously used as multiple quick bowlers in the identical lineup

The side that succeeded at home in the memorable competition of 2005 Ashes contained Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that won in those seasons featured Brian Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in recent memory - the visitors are looking to overturn an awful record - they have not won a Test match in Australia since 2011

Just five players of the sixteen-player group have participated in a Test in Australia, but Atkinson says that could benefit the English team

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

"There have been a lot of players who have stated they have had challenging periods 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 do something special"

Australian Preparations

The Australian training on this week was momentarily paused by the risk of storms

The home side are likely to provide an opportunity to batsman Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Doggett also being included after fitness concerns to captain Pat Cummins and teammate Hazlewood