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England's bowling consultant Tim Southee is still working through what his involvement will be during the forthcoming Ashes contest in the host nation.

The ex- Kiwi pace bowler is only likely to be available for the opening match because of his participation in the ILT20 tournament, which starts on 2 December in the United Arab Emirates.

The 36-year-old, aged 36, assumed a role as England's pace bowling advisor in the summer after taking 391 scalps in 107 Tests for New Zealand.

Speaking as England's squad for the opening of three T20 matches against the Kiwis was named, Southee stated of his availability: "We are still evaluating the situation at the moment.

"We will determine what happens over the coming days."

England bowling legend Broad had declared the Australian side as their "weakest squad since 2010", but Southee was in no uncertainty over the anticipated challenge during the contest, which begins on November 21.

"In my view there's at any time a bad Aussie side," Southee remarked.

"The team's attention is firmly on our own objectives. In my opinion the quality of [the English] team that's heading out to Australia is brilliant.

"It should be an absolute cracker, the Ashes. Not only [are|do] English and Australian people looking forward to it, I believe the entire cricketing community is."

However, prior to the English team travel to the city of Perth for the first Ashes match, they face the Kiwis in Christchurch on Saturday.

England XI v New Zealand:

• Phil Salt

• Jos Buttler

• Jacob Bethell

• Brook (captain)

• Tom Banton

• Sam Curran

• Jordan Cox

• Carse

• Dawson

• Adil Rashid

• Luke Wood