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The tourists have left decisions open for the initial Ashes match by including off-spinner Shoaib Bashir in a 12-man squad combined with five pace bowlers

Mark Wood has recovered and is expected to participate against Australia in Perth on Friday, with the final decision probably coming down to off-spinner Bashir and pace bowler Brydon Carse

Ground Situation

If the visitors select an all-pace attack - four dedicated bowlers combined with all-rounder Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of pacemen they have deployed in an Ashes Test in the host nation

Earlier this week local pitch curator Isaac McDonald commented to expect "speed and bounce" from the pitch at the venue, and it looks possible England will stick to a established strategy of an exclusively pace attack

However the English team have also spotted a dryness to the surface, bringing the spinner into contention

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of the ground - five earlier Tests have been played here - Australian off-spinner the experienced spinner is the leading wicket-taker with 29 dismissals

England have supported the young spinner, 22, as their first-choice spinner for over twelve months and in recent months he was recognized as the least experienced English bowler to reach 50 wickets in international Tests

Yet he has been absent from a official match since claiming the concluding scalp in a exciting triumph over the Indian team in the third match at Lord's in July

Recent Challenges

The spinner has been out with a broken finger and struggled in England's only warm-up match against the Lions, recording match figures of 2 for 151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the possibility of the spinner participating in an Ashes match without being attached to a domestic team

His deal at his county ended at the finish of the English season

Likely Lineup

Still, an English side containing Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, captain Ben Stokes and Brydon Carse - every one of them are able to achieve 90mph - stays the expected conclusion

The first Test starts at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with instant commentary, specialist radio coverage and in-play highlights accessible

England Squad

Selected players for initial Ashes match: Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (leader), Smith (wk), Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Wood, Archer, Shoaib Bashir

Historical Context

Although a various successful Ashes campaigns at domestically and internationally have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as many express pace bowlers in the identical lineup

The team that succeeded at domestically in the celebrated contest of that year included Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

The captain's triumphant visitors to Australia in those years had Willis, Peter Lever and Snow, and the visiting team that triumphed in those seasons contained Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

In this instance - potentially the most exciting England-Australia contests in recent memory - England are looking to change an difficult past - they have been unable to secure a five-day game in Australia since over a decade ago

Just five players of the sixteen-player group have experienced a Test match in Australia, but Atkinson says that could benefit the English team

"This could represent an advantage," he mentioned to reporters

"There are a many cricketers who have said they have had challenging periods down under

"In our case, we are a quite calm, highly optimistic squad

"No negative experiences

"It's exhilarating

"The entire team views it as a great possibility to do something special"

Australian Preparations

The Australian net session on this week was briefly delayed by the threat of lightning

The home side are expected to provide an opportunity to batsman Weatherald, with yet to debut fast bowler Doggett also being included due to injuries to skipper Cummins and teammate Josh Hazlewood