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England have maintained flexibility for the first Ashes Test by selecting off-spinner Bashir in a 12-man squad alongside five seamers

The fast bowler has recovered and seems set to play facing the hosts in Perth on the weekend, with the ultimate choice possibly coming down to off-spinner Bashir and pace bowler Brydon Carse

Pitch Conditions

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four dedicated bowlers combined with multi-skilled player the captain - it would arguably be the fastest group of pacemen they have fielded in an Test against Australia in Australia

Earlier this week Western Australia groundsman the curator stated to expect "pace and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it seems likely the English will follow a traditional approach of an pace-only strategy

Yet the tourists have also spotted a arid quality to the wicket, putting the spinner into the running

Spinning Options

In the short history of the ground - five previous Tests have been hosted here - Australian spin bowler Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with twenty-nine

The English management have favored Shoaib, twenty-two, as their primary spin option for over twelve months and in May he achieved the youngest England bowler to attain 50 wickets in Test matches

But he has missed a first-class game after securing the final wicket in a dramatic victory over India in the third match at Lord's in recently

Current Concerns

He has been suffering from a broken finger and struggled in the single preparation match against England Lions, returning combined figures of 2-151 from twenty-four overs

This presents the possibility of Bashir competing in an Ashes match without being attached to a domestic team

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

Probable Team

Still, an visiting team including Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching 90 miles per hour - remains the most likely outcome

The initial game starts at 2:20 AM GMT on the weekend, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and live action clips available

England Squad

Team lineup for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

While a several England Ashes triumphs at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have not previously selected as numerous fast bowlers in the equivalent side

The team that succeeded at home in the famous series of 2005 featured Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's winning English side to the host nation in those years had Bob Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the England team that won in that period included Statham and Tyson

Present Circumstances

This time around - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in recent years - the English team are aiming to change an awful record - they have failed to win a five-day game in the host country since that year

Only five members of the extended squad have experienced a Test in Australia, but Atkinson says that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an positive," he explained to media outlets

"There have been a numerous athletes who have stated they have had some tough times down under

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

"No bad memories

"It's exhilarating

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to do something special"

Australian Preparations

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

Australia are likely to give a debut to opener Weatherald, with yet to debut pace bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in due to injuries to skipper Pat Cummins and teammate Hazlewood