Ben Stokes and Steven Smith shake hands on the eve of the Ashes•Getty Images
Ben Stokes pulls a surprise and elects to bat first. They have gone with history at the ground. All five Tests here have been won by the side batting first. The teams are as expected.
Australia: Jake Weatherald, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett
England: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood
Here’s Matt Roller on England’s decision to leave out Shoaib Bashir: “It has been signposted for a while but England’s decision to pick an all-seam attack is significant. They have invested heavily in Shoaib Bashir, selecting him in 19 out of 20 Tests between his debut and the Lord’s Test against India in July, but have decided that conditions in Perth won’t suit him. The previous five Tests at this venue have seen Nathan Lyon take 29 wickets, visiting spinners have only managed eight between them.It is only the third time since Ben Stokes took over that England have gone in without a frontline spinner, and they lost the previous two. But this balance should allow Stokes to use his quicks in shorter bursts, which is particularly relevant to Mark Wood. Wood hasn’t played a Test match since last August after elbow and knee injuries, and reported hamstring soreness after eight overs in last week’s tour match at Lilac Hill.”
