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The tourists have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by including off-spinner Bashir in a squad of twelve alongside five seamers

Wood has recovered and is expected to participate versus the Aussies in Western Australia on the coming Friday, with the last selection probably coming down to spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Pitch Conditions

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four main pacers plus all-rounder Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of bowlers they have used in an Test against Australia in this country

Earlier this week local wicket preparer McDonald stated to anticipate "fast and bouncy conditions" from the pitch at the stadium, and it seems likely the tourists will adhere to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

However the tourists have also observed a dryness to the pitch, putting Bashir into the running

Spin Considerations

Throughout the limited timeframe of the ground - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australia off-spinner the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with 29

The English management have favored the young spinner, 22, as their first-choice spinner for since last year and in May he became the least experienced English bowler to attain fifty wickets in international Tests

Yet he has been absent from a first-class game after claiming the final wicket in a dramatic victory over India in the third Test at the famous ground in recently

Recent Issues

The spinner has been out with a broken finger and had challenges in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, returning match figures of 2 for 151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the scenario of him competing in an Ashes Test without being attached to a first-class side

His deal at his county expired at the conclusion of the domestic season

Probable Team

Nevertheless, an visiting team including Mark Wood, Archer, Gus Atkinson, skipper Stokes and Carse - each of whom are able to achieve 90 miles per hour - remains the most likely outcome

The opening match commences at 02:20 GMT on the weekend, with instant commentary, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights accessible

Team Selection

Team lineup for series opener: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Historical Context

Even though a number of successful Ashes campaigns at in England and overseas have been constructed around fast bowling, they have never fielded as multiple quick bowlers in the same team

The lineup that won at domestically in the celebrated contest of 2005 included Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's successful touring team to Australia in those years had Willis, Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that won in 1954-55 featured Brian Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

This time around - potentially the most exciting Ashes series in recent memory - the visitors are hoping to reverse an poor history - they have failed to win a Test match in Australia since 2011

Only five members of the sixteen-player group have experienced a international Test in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could benefit the English team

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

"There are a lot of players who have stated they have had difficult experiences in this country

"Regarding our team, we are a extremely composed, highly optimistic team

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a great possibility to achieve something remarkable"

Host Team Situation

The Australian practice session on Wednesday was temporarily interrupted by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are expected to give a debut to opener Jack Weatherald, with new seamer Brendan Doggett also being included due to injuries to captain Cummins and colleague Hazlewood