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England have kept their options open for the initial Ashes match by naming off-spinner the young spinner in a twelve-player team together with five fast bowlers

Mark Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Western Australia on Friday, with the last selection probably coming down to spinner Bashir and fast bowler the seamer

Wicket Factors

Should England choose an all-pace attack - four specialists plus all-rounder Ben Stokes - it would potentially be the fastest group of bowlers they have deployed in an Ashes Test in the host nation

On Wednesday WA pitch curator McDonald stated to expect "pace and bounce" from the pitch at Perth Stadium, and it appears probable England will stick to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

But the tourists have also noted a lack of moisture to the surface, bringing Bashir into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

Throughout the limited timeframe of this venue - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the most successful bowler with 29

England have backed Bashir, 22, as their first-choice spinner for since last year and in recent months he became the youngest England bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Test matches

But he has missed a first-class game since securing the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over the Indian team in the third match at the famous ground in recently

Recent Issues

The spinner has been recovering from a finger injury and found it difficult in the single preparation match against the Lions, returning combined figures of two wickets for 151 runs from 24 overs

This creates the scenario of him competing in an Ashes Test without being attached to a county

His deal at Somerset concluded at the end of the home summer

Probable Team

However, an England team containing Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, skipper Stokes and Brydon Carse - each of whom are likely to hit 90mph - remains the probable result

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

Team Selection

England squad for series opener: Duckett, Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Brook, Stokes (skipper), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

While a various English Ashes victories at home and abroad have been founded on quick bowling, they have never fielded as multiple quick bowlers in the same team

The lineup that triumphed at in England in the famous series of 2005 Ashes included Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to the host nation in those years had Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the visiting team that triumphed in 1954-55 contained Brian Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

This time around - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in recent years - England are hoping to change an difficult past - they have not won a Test match in Australia since that year

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

"This might be an positive," he told media outlets

"There have been a many cricketers who have said they have had difficult experiences down under

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

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to create history"

Host Team Situation

The host team's training on recently was momentarily paused by the threat of lightning

Australia are probably going to provide an opportunity to opener Weatherald, with new fast bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in after fitness concerns to captain Pat Cummins and colleague Hazlewood