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England have kept their options open for the first Ashes Test by including off-spinner the young spinner in a twelve-player team alongside five pace bowlers

The fast bowler is declared fit and appears likely to feature against Australia in Perth on Friday, with the ultimate choice possibly coming down to off-spinner Bashir and fast bowler Carse

Ground Situation

If the visitors select an fast bowling unit - four main pacers along with all-rounder Stokes - it would potentially be the quickest collection of bowlers they have fielded in an Ashes Test in the host nation

Recently local pitch curator the curator said to expect "speed and bounce" from the wicket at the stadium, and it seems likely the English will follow a traditional approach of an exclusively pace attack

But the English team have also noted a dryness to the surface, putting Bashir into the running

Slow Bowling Factors

During the brief existence of the ground - five earlier Tests have been staged here - Australian spin bowler Nathan Lyon is the top wicket-taker with 29

The English management have favored the young spinner, 22, as their primary spin option for over twelve months and in May he became the least experienced English bowler to achieve fifty wickets in Tests

But he has not played a first-class game since claiming the final wicket in a dramatic victory over the Indian team in the final Test at Lord's in July

Recent Challenges

The spinner has been recovering from a finger injury and struggled in the sole practice game against the development squad, recording match figures of 2-151 from his bowling spell

It also raises the scenario of the spinner playing in an Test against Australia without being attached to a first-class side

The agreement at the domestic team ended at the end of the home summer

Likely Lineup

Nevertheless, an England team including Mark Wood, Archer, Atkinson, leader Ben Stokes and Carse - every one of them are able to achieve high speeds - remains the most likely outcome

The opening match commences at 02:20 GMT on Friday, with live text coverage, specialist radio coverage and real-time features available

Playing Group

Selected players for initial Ashes match: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Pope, Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (gloveman), Gus Atkinson, Carse, Wood, Jofra Archer, Bashir

Past Experience

Even though a various English Ashes victories at domestically and internationally have been built on pace, they have never fielded as many express pace bowlers in the identical lineup

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

Raymond Illingworth's winning English side to Australia in those years had Willis, Peter Lever and John Snow, and the English side that triumphed in that period contained Statham and Tyson

Current Situation

On this occasion - potentially the most exciting Test series in recent years - England are aiming to overturn an poor history - they have been unable to secure a Test in the host country since that year

Just five players of the 16-man squad have played a Test match in Australia, but the bowler says that could help the visitors

"This could represent an advantage," he told the press

"There are a numerous athletes who have said they have had some tough times down under

"For us, we are a extremely composed, highly optimistic team

"No scarring

"It's exhilarating

"We all see it as a massive chance to achieve something remarkable"

Australian Preparations

The host team's practice session on this week was momentarily paused by the risk of storms

The hosts are probably going to give a debut to batsman Jack Weatherald, with new pace bowler Doggett also being included after fitness concerns to captain Cummins and teammate Hazlewood