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England have left decisions open for the series opener by including off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a squad of twelve alongside five pace bowlers

Wood has recovered and seems set to play facing the hosts in Perth Stadium on the weekend, with the last selection likely between the young spinner and fast bowler the seamer

Ground Situation

Should England choose an fast bowling unit - four dedicated bowlers combined with multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the most rapid assembly of bowlers they have fielded in an Ashes Test in Australia

On Wednesday Western Australia pitch curator McDonald stated to look for "pace and bounce" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it appears probable the English will adhere to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

Yet the visitors have also spotted a dryness to the wicket, placing Bashir into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of the ground - five prior matches have been played here - Australian spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

The team have favored the young spinner, twenty-two, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in spring he achieved the youngest England bowler to attain fifty wickets in international Tests

However he has not played a first-class game following securing the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third match at Lord's in July

Recent Issues

He has been out with a broken finger and had challenges in the single preparation match against England Lions, returning combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

This presents the possibility of him participating in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a domestic team

His contract at the domestic team expired at the conclusion of the domestic season

Likely Lineup

Nevertheless, an visiting team containing Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Carse - all of whom are able to achieve 90mph - stays the most likely outcome

The initial game starts at 02:20 GMT on the weekend, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and real-time features available

Team Selection

Selected players for series opener: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

While a several England Ashes triumphs at home and abroad have been founded on quick bowling, they have not previously selected as multiple quick bowlers in the same team

The team that succeeded at domestically in the memorable competition of 2005 included Steve Harmison, Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the England team that triumphed in those seasons contained Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in recent memory - England are aiming to overturn an awful record - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in the host country since 2011

Merely five individuals of the sixteen-player group have experienced a Test match in Australia, but the bowler states that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an benefit," he told the press

"There have been a many cricketers who have said they have had challenging periods down under

"Regarding our team, we are a extremely composed, extremely confident team

"No scarring

"It's very exciting

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

Australian Preparations

Australia's training on this week was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

The hosts are likely to provide an opportunity to batsman Weatherald, with yet to debut seamer Brendan Doggett also coming in due to health issues to skipper Pat Cummins and colleague Hazlewood