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The tourists have kept their options open for the first Ashes Test by including spin bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad combined with five seamers

Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Western Australia on Friday, with the final decision probably involving spinner Bashir and seamer the seamer

Pitch Conditions

If the visitors select an pace-only bowling lineup - four dedicated bowlers combined with multi-skilled player Ben Stokes - it would possibly be the quickest collection of seamers they have deployed in an Ashes Test in this country

On Wednesday Western Australia pitch curator Isaac McDonald stated to expect "pace and bounce" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it appears probable the English will follow a established strategy of an exclusively pace attack

However the English team have also observed a arid quality to the pitch, bringing Bashir into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five previous Tests have been played here - Australian spin bowler the experienced spinner is the top wicket-taker with twenty-nine

The English management have supported the young spinner, 22 years old, as their main slow bowler for since last year and in recent months he became the most youthful English bowler to reach 50 wickets in Tests

However he has missed a competitive game after claiming the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third match at the famous ground in summer

Recent Challenges

Bashir has been suffering from a hand problem and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, returning match figures of 2-151 from 24 overs

This creates the prospect of Bashir participating in an Test against Australia without being attached to a domestic team

The agreement at his county expired at the end of the home summer

Expected Selection

Still, an visiting team containing Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Carse - all of whom are able to achieve 90mph - remains the expected conclusion

The initial game begins at 2:20 AM GMT on Friday, with instant commentary, Test Match Special commentary and live action clips accessible

England Squad

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Crawley, Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (skipper), Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a number of English Ashes victories at domestically and internationally have been founded on quick bowling, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the equivalent side

The side that won at domestically in the famous series of that year included Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Raymond Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in 1970-71 had Bob Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that triumphed in those seasons featured Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Modern Context

This time around - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in recent memory - the English team are looking to overturn an awful record - they have failed to win a five-day game in the host country since 2011

Just five players of the 16-man squad have experienced a Test in the host nation, but Atkinson says that could work in England's favour

"It could be an benefit," he told the press

"We've seen a lot of players who have said they have had some tough times in this country

"For us, we are a very relaxed, highly optimistic group

"No scarring

"It's thrilling

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

Host Team Situation

The Australian practice session on this week was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

Australia are likely to provide an opportunity to batsman Weatherald, with new pace bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in following fitness concerns to skipper Pat Cummins and colleague Hazlewood