The next Ashes series takes place in Australia starting in late 2025 and England appear to have hatched a plan to try and fight fire with fire when they head Down Under to try and regain the little urn.

The Three Lions have been tamed 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 on their last three visits to Australia and are eager to avoid another tough time when they tour in 2025/26.

They are 3.60 to win the next Ashes outright, with a drawn series priced at 6.00, while Australia are 1.61 to come out on top on home soil.

England last triumphed in an away Ashes series back in 2010/11, when their seam attack, backed up by a world-class off-spinner in Graeme Swann, dominated a misfiring Aussie batting line-up.

It was seam rather than speed which did the damage then, with James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Chris Tremlett excelling, but this time around England appear to be looking to be armed with real pace.

Here we take a look at the leading candidates to try and counter the fire of Aussie trio Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

Mark Wood

Durham paceman Mark Wood has endured a stop-start Test career due to a catalogue of injuries and has yet to truly deliver on a consistent basis with the red ball.

He is currently fit and firing against the West Indies, with England skipper Ben stokes excitedly talking of his county colleague being ready to break the 100mph barrier.

And, while an overall record of 112 wickets from 36 completed Tests to date at an average of 31.37 is nothing too special, Wood has taken 41 wickets at 27.48 in 11 Tests against Australia, with his Test-best innings figures 6-37 taken against the Baggy Greens in Hobart in January 2022.

Should he remain fit, Wood looks like being the spearhead England require following the retirements of Anderson and Stuart Broad.

Jofra Archer

Like Wood, Jofra Archer has seen his red-ball outings severely limited by injuries, meaning that he has only played in 13 Test matches and none at all since February 2021.

However, he recently stated: "I want to spend the rest of the year proving some people wrong and hopefully play in another Ashes."

Archer produces genuine pace from a short run-up and a fast arm action, with his Test debut against Australia at Lord's during the English summer of 2019 seeing him strike both Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne on the helmet.

He took 22 wickets at 20.27 in four outings during that series, which remains his only Ashes action to date.

Should Archer get back to the fitness levels required to re-enter the red-ball arena, he is certainly an option which England are considering for the next Ashes series, even if a full participation across all five matches is all but an impossibility.

Gus Atkinson

Surrey's Gus Atkinson recently made a blistering start to his Test career, having impressed in white-ball cricket over the previous few months.

Atkinson marked his Test debut against West Indies at Lord's by completing match figures of 12-106, taking seven wickets in the first innings and five in the second to get his name on the famous honours board at the first attempt.

Capable of genuine out-and-out pace, of course Atkinson still has plenty to prove, but he has made a strong start and has 18 months to develop and be ready to try and make a mark in the Ashes.

Josh Tongue

Josh Tongue appeared to have marked himself as a bowler set for a solid international career when he took 10 wickets across his first two Test appearances, against Ireland and Australia, both at Lord's, in June 2023.

However, the stoutly-built Nottinghamshire fast bowler suffered a pectoral injury soon after and has not yet returned to action, although his ability to produce lift and bounce from the most placid of surfaces mean he will remain in the selection picture should he overcome his fitness issues.

Olly Stone

Another injury-affected England paceman is Olly Stone, who is a county colleague of Tongue at Trent Bridge.

The 30-year-old has been restricted to just three Test appearances to date, having made his debut against Ireland in July 2019 and featured against both India and New Zealand in 2021.

Ten wickets at 19.40 across those three outings show the ability Stone possesses and he is currently in action after recovering from his latest setback, but he will need some big performances in the next 12 months to secure an Ashes spot.