England has gambled on Mark Wood in the Test team before the Ashes.

mark wood Looks ready to start the inauguration ash to test England against Australia As part of a five-man pace attack after being named in the 12-man squad.

X-factor bowler Wood has faced Race against time to prove your fitness After surgery earlier this year. He recovered well enough to travel down but completed only eight overs of the practice match against the England Lions at Lilac Hill before nursing his hamstring.

However, Everything became clear after scanning the issue earlier this week and that has set him up to be part of an all-seam attack provided he can properly prove his fitness in the nets over the next 48 hours.

The seam-friendly nature of the pitch at Perth’s Optus Stadium makes this a viable strategy and with key Australian bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the first Test, this is the opportunity. tourists have to be aggressive And give all your strength to win.

Wood is set to open as part of the bowling unit alongside fellow fast bowlers jofra archerBrayden Carse, Gus Atkinson and ben stokesThis would be the fastest bowling attack fielded by England in recent memory, the fastest of whom – Wood and Archer – have only ever played one Test together before,

Shoaib Bashir is also in the squad, but given the nature of the Perth pitch and their struggles in recent times, it seems likely that he will be given the responsibility of 12th man (barring Wood failing a late fitness test).

There is no place for Will Jacks in the 12-man squad, so the idea of ​​selecting him to expand the batting line-up and provide a part-time spin option has been ruled out. As expected, Ollie Pope has overtaken Jacob Bethel, so the opener will take the No. 3 spot in the batting line-up behind Jack Crawley and Ben Duckett.

England have not won a first Ashes Test in Australia in almost 40 years, nor beaten the hosts in Perth since 1978 and have not won a Test down the stretch since the victorious 2010–11 series. However, hopes are high that it may be time to end the drought

England’s 12-player squad for the first Ashes Test:

Ben Stokes (C)

jofra archer

Gus Atkinson

Shoaib Bashir

harry brook

braydon carse

jack crawley

ben duckett

Ollie Pope

Joe Root

Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper)

mark wood