England have played their hand ahead of the first test and named a 13-man squad with no big surprises.
As expected, Joe Root is the front-runner to join captain Alastair Cook at the top of the order as Nick Compton was omitted after a run of low scores.
Elsewhere, England have an additional bowler in the squad, that of Graham Onions, to ensure there is sufficient competition for bowling places.
One of Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan or Onions is likely to join the leaders of the attack, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, when the first test starts on Wednesday.
Kevin Pietersen makes his return to the squad after having to pull out of the New Zealand series in March with a knee injury.
Jonny Bairstow is likely to get the nod at six as England begin their bid to win their third Ashes series in a row.
It is likely that there will be just one team change from the last test against New Zealand, Pietersen in for Compton with the rest of the changes positional.
England squad: Alastair Cook (Essex, capt), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Matt Prior (Sussex, wk), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), James Anderson (Lancashire), Graham Onions (Durham).