Ashes battle lines drawn for Perth pace paradise

Australia and England wrapped up their Ashes preparations on Thursday with the home side showing their hand with a pair of debutants while the visitors kept their final XI under wraps for the series-opening test.

Injuries have torn up Australia's best-laid plans twice in recent weeks but stand-in skipper Steve Smith was all calm as he confirmed that opener Jake Weatherald would face the new ball at Perth Stadium and paceman Brendan Doggett will slot into a depleted attack.

The 31-year-old debutants may do little to reduce the ageing profile of the Australian squad but each offers something different on the menu for England.

Initially sixth cab off the rank in Australia's pace setup, Doggett will be thrown into the Ashes cauldron from Friday because of injuries to Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott.

Aggressive left-hander Weatherald joins the more patient Usman Khawaja at the top of the order, having turfed Sam Konstas out of the position with his weight of domestic runs.

Both the new boys face a baptism of fire against a team convinced by captain Ben Stokes that the urn England relinquished eight years ago is there for the taking.

"We've got an opportunity over the next two and a half months to write our own history," Stokes told reporters on Thursday.

"We've obviously come with the goal and that goal is to get on that plane mid-January and return to England being Ashes winners."

The Perth Stadium curator has promised the wicket will be green, fast and bouncy but Stokes offered no thoughts on whether England would attack with four quicks or pick the specialist spinner, Shoaib Bashir, in their 11.

The decision may come later on Thursday after a chat with coach Brendon McCullum, the skipper said.

LYON THE GOAT

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