England v South Africa: Sam Curran returns for first T20 at Cardiff

England were flat in the first two ODIs – particularly the opening thrashing at Headingley, when they were bowled out for 131 – but responded with a record win in the third at Southampton.

Batters Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith have been rested for this series while a new-look side will be led by Bethell against Ireland at the end of the month, providing players such as Curran with another chance to impress McCullum.

“I sat down with him recently and asked him to bang down the door, to force his way into the top six and with his bowling ability,” McCullum told Sky Sports after the ODI series.

“He is a very attractive resource and it was just a matter of putting in performances to get himself back to where he needed to be.

“He was honest. He said he was determined to have a long international career and fair play to him, he has banged it down.”

Duckett and Smith were among those to play all five Tests against India before going straight to The Hundred and then the ODIs.

England have a white-ball series in New Zealand before the Ashes in November, and face another tight turnaround with the T20 World Cup taking place in India and Sri Lanka in February – although the schedule is yet to be released.

“I can only speak for myself but I obviously don’t play Test cricket so I can just focus on the white-ball side of things, I can go to New Zealand and then have a rest so I’m fresh for that World Cup,” spinner Rashid told BBC Sport about the packed schedule.

“It’s probably going to be a bit of a challenge for the guys [playing all formats] but that’s the schedule.

“Everyone will be up for it, no huffing and puffing or no complaining because we all know that’s part and parcel of cricket. We’ll all be raring to go mentally and physically.”

The first T20 starts at 18:30 BST on Wednesday, with the second match at Old Trafford on Friday and the finale at Trent Bridge on Sunday.