England bat first after opting for pace attack in Perth

England left out spinner Shoaib Bashir and included an all-out pace attack as Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first in the opening Ashes Test against Australia in Perth.

The tourists included a quartet of quicks in their final XI, with Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse to be joined by Stokes in an impressive array of fast bowlers for the Perth Stadium contest.

But it is England's batters that will get first chance to shine on a sunny day in Perth, with Stokes having no hesitation to bat first after he won the coin toss against Australian counterpart Steve Smith.

Smith also indicated he would have chosen to bat first had he been successful at the toss, with Australian debutant Jake Weatherald forced to wait before he gets his chance at the top of the batting order.

Fellow debutant Brendan Doggett will be on show straight away though, with the uncapped right-armer named alongside fellow quicks Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland as experienced duo Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood miss out due to injury.

Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Brendan Doggett, Scott Boland

England XI: Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood

Series schedule:

First Test: Perth Stadium, November 21-25
Second Test: Gabba, December 4-8
Third Test: Adelaide Oval, December 17-21
Fourth Test: MCG, December 26-30
Fifth Test: SCG, January 4-8