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The English side has kept their options open for the first Ashes Test by naming off-spinner Bashir in a 12-man squad combined with five seamers

Wood has been passed fit and appears likely to feature against Australia in Western Australia on Friday, with the last selection probably coming down to spinner Bashir and pace bowler Brydon Carse

Ground Situation

If England opt for an all-pace attack - four dedicated bowlers along with multi-skilled player Stokes - it would arguably be the quickest collection of pacemen they have used in an Ashes Test in the host nation

Recently WA pitch curator McDonald stated to look for "speed and bounce" from the pitch at the venue, and it appears probable the tourists will stick to a long-standing plan of an pace-only strategy

But the visitors have also noted a dryness to the wicket, putting Bashir into consideration

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of this venue - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australia spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with 29

England have backed Bashir, twenty-two, as their first-choice spinner for over twelve months and in spring he became the youngest England bowler to attain half-century of wickets in Test matches

However he has not played a competitive game after taking the concluding scalp in a thrilling win over India in the third Test at the famous ground in summer

Current Concerns

The spinner has been suffering from a finger injury and struggled in England's only warm-up match against England Lions, recording match figures of two wickets for 151 runs from twenty-four overs

It also raises the possibility of him competing in an Ashes Test without being contracted with a first-class side

His deal at Somerset ended at the finish of the English season

Likely Lineup

Still, an England team featuring Wood, Jofra Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching 90 miles per hour - remains the probable result

The opening match commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with real-time updates, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights available

England Squad

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

Team Background

While a number of successful Ashes campaigns at domestically and internationally have been constructed around fast bowling, they have never fielded as numerous fast bowlers in the same team

The lineup that succeeded at domestically in the famous series of 2005 Ashes featured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's triumphant visitors to the host nation in those years had Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the England team that won in 1954-55 featured Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Present Circumstances

On this occasion - one of the most eagerly anticipated Test series in modern times - the English team are aiming to overturn an awful record - they have not won a Test in Australia since over a decade ago

Just five players of the extended squad have experienced a Test in the host nation, but the bowler states that could work in England's favour

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

"There have been a many cricketers who have mentioned they have had difficult experiences here in Australia

"In our case, we are a very relaxed, highly optimistic team

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

"Everyone considers it a huge opportunity to create history"

Australian Preparations

Australia's net session on Wednesday was temporarily interrupted by the risk of storms

The hosts are probably going to hand a first cap to batsman Jack Weatherald, with new fast bowler Brendan Doggett also joining following injuries to captain Pat Cummins and colleague Hazlewood