The prospect of a SCG pitch with 6mm of live grass on it taking turn in the latter days of the match has left the door open for Shoaib Bashir to make his Australia debut, with England's squad also shaped by series-ending injuries to fast bowlers Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson.
Atkinson was not replaced in the squad after sustaining a hamstring injury during England's fourth Test victory in England, making an appearance for fellow seamer Matthew Potts a possibility if England don't wish to add extra spin to their bowling attack.
It appears that a battle between Potts and Bashir is on to replace Atkinson in an otherwise unchanged XI, with England reserving their final selection until a latter date.
The potential for rain (1-10mm) and thunderstorms on the opening day further complicates the selection headache for both England and Australia, who have not yet backed Todd Murphy to come into the XI after he missed the fourth Test for an all-pace attack.
Bashir, a pet project of the 'Bazball' era, is yet to play in the series after taking match figures of 2/151 in the intra-squad practice match at the beginning of the tour and 0/115 for England Lions against Australia A three weeks later.
England 5th Test 12-man squad:
Ben Stokes (c), Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue