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The tourists have left decisions open for the first Ashes Test by selecting slow bowler the young spinner in a squad of twelve together with five pace bowlers

Wood has recovered and appears likely to feature facing the hosts in Western Australia on the weekend, with the final decision likely coming down to the young spinner and seamer Carse

Pitch Conditions

If England opt for an all-pace attack - four specialists combined with all-rounder Stokes - it would possibly be the quickest collection of pacemen they have deployed in an Ashes match in this country

Earlier this week WA pitch curator McDonald stated to look for "speed and bounce" from the surface at Perth Stadium, and it appears probable the English will stick to a long-standing plan of an exclusively pace attack

Yet the English team have also noted a dryness to the pitch, putting the spinner into the running

Slow Bowling Factors

In the short history of the ground - five previous Tests have been staged here - Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon is the leading wicket-taker with 29

The English management have backed the young spinner, 22 years old, as their first-choice spinner for over twelve months and in May he was recognized as the most youthful English bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Test matches

Yet he has been absent from a official match following securing the final wicket in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the final Test at the famous ground in recently

Recent Issues

The spinner has been recovering from a broken finger and found it difficult in the single preparation match against the development squad, recording match figures of 2 for 151 from 24 overs

This presents the scenario of the spinner playing in an Test against Australia without being contracted with a county

His deal at his county ended at the conclusion of the domestic season

Likely Lineup

However, an visiting team containing Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, captain Stokes and Carse - every one of them are capable of reaching 90mph - remains the probable result

The opening match commences at early morning GMT on Friday, with instant commentary, Test Match Special commentary and in-play highlights available

Playing Group

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

Past Experience

While a various England Ashes triumphs at domestically and internationally have been constructed around fast bowling, they have not previously selected as numerous fast bowlers in the same team

The side that succeeded at home in the celebrated contest of 2005 Ashes contained Harmison, Simon Jones and Flintoff

Illingworth's successful touring team to Australia in 1970-71 had Willis, Lever and John Snow, and the England team that succeeded in 1954-55 included Brian Statham and Frank 'Typhoon' Tyson

Current Situation

On this occasion - among the most highly anticipated England-Australia contests in modern times - the English team are aiming to overturn an poor history - they have not won a five-day game in Australia since 2011

Just five players of the 16-man squad have experienced a international Test in the host nation, but the bowler comments that could benefit the English team

"It could be an positive," he mentioned to reporters

"We've seen a numerous athletes who have mentioned they have had difficult experiences in this country

"In our case, we are a extremely composed, extremely confident group

"No bad memories

"It's thrilling

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

Opposition News

The Australian net session on recently was temporarily interrupted by the threat of lightning

Australia are likely to hand a first cap to opener Weatherald, with new fast bowler Brendan Doggett also coming in after injuries to skipper Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood