England Include the off-spinner in Team for Ashes Initial Match

The English side has maintained flexibility for the series opener by including slow bowler the young spinner in a 12-man squad together with five seamers

The fast bowler is declared fit and is expected to participate versus the Aussies in Perth on the weekend, with the final decision likely involving the young spinner and seamer Brydon Carse

Ground Situation

If the visitors select an all-pace attack - four specialists combined with all-rounder the captain - it would potentially be the quickest collection of seamers they have fielded in an Ashes match in Australia

Earlier this week Western Australia wicket preparer the curator stated to expect "pace and bounce" from the wicket at the venue, and it looks possible England will stick to a traditional approach of an exclusively pace attack

But the tourists have also noted a lack of moisture to the wicket, placing Bashir into consideration

Spinning Options

During the brief existence of Perth Stadium - five earlier Tests have been staged here - Australian spin bowler the experienced spinner is the most successful bowler with 29 dismissals

England have favored Bashir, twenty-two, as their main slow bowler for over twelve months and in May he became the youngest England bowler to achieve 50 wickets in Tests

Yet he has not played a competitive game following claiming the final wicket in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the final Test at Lord's in July

Current Concerns

He has been recovering from a hand problem and found it difficult in England's only warm-up match against England Lions, posting match figures of 2 for 151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the possibility of Bashir playing in an Test against Australia without being affiliated with a first-class side

His deal at the domestic team concluded at the conclusion of the domestic season

Expected Selection

Nevertheless, an England team including Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, captain Stokes and Brydon Carse - all of whom are likely to hit 90 miles per hour - continues to be the most likely outcome

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

Playing Group

Selected players for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Stokes (leader), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Mark Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Team Background

While a various English Ashes victories at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have never fielded as numerous fast bowlers in the identical lineup

The lineup that triumphed at domestically in the famous series of 2005 included Steve Harmison, Jones and Flintoff

The captain's triumphant visitors to Australia in that era had Willis, Lever and Snow, and the English side that won in that period contained Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

This time around - one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in recent years - England are looking to overturn an awful record - they have failed to win a Test in the host country since over a decade ago

Merely five individuals of the sixteen-player group have participated in a Test match in the host nation, but the bowler says that could work in England's favour

"This could represent an benefit," he explained to the press

"There are a many cricketers who have mentioned they have had challenging periods in this country

"Regarding our team, we are a quite calm, very positive squad

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a huge opportunity to do something special"

Host Team Situation

Australia's net session on recently was momentarily paused by the possibility of bad weather

The home side are expected to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in due to injuries to skipper Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood