Liam Plunkett traces his return to the England reckoning back to his call-up for last spring's Lions tour to New Zealand.

It was there - although his statistical gains were solid rather than remarkable - he gained vital renewed confidence.

Plunkett is already in England's Test plans this winter, and in the frame too to add to his 27 one-day international caps after being summoned from the Performance Programme as cover for the injured Stuart Broad.

The 24-year-old seamer admits he lost his way to a degree after being dropped by England in 2007, and he was unable to play a central role when his county Durham won their maiden championship a year later.

As Durham followed up 12 months on it was a decidedly different story - and Plunkett's all-round contribution did not go unnoticed by the national selectors when they picked their team to tour South Africa.

Plunkett and the rest were stuck at the team hotel on Friday as rain washed out the first fixture of a scheduled five-match ODI series at The Wanderers. But he may yet get his chance if the weather relents and he catches the selectors' eyes for the second match at Centurion.

For Plunkett, it will be reward for much hard work - which first started to pay dividends last March.

"Last year, I went to New Zealand with the Lions," he recalls.

There, a team captained by Robert Key drew two unofficial four-day Tests against New Zealand A.

"Getting that call-up really helped me - and soon I was happy with the way things were working," Plunkett added.

"My batting, as well as my bowling, has started to get better."

It was all a far cry from the months immediately following the last of his previous international appearances, in June 2007.

But he believes he subsequently discovered the "new Liam Plunkett" - thanks to honesty with himself about his preparations and approach to his career.

The consequence is that he is impatient to prove himself at the highest level again. "I want to be pushing to play, in the one-dayers now as well as the Tests," he said.

"I don't want to be carrying the drinks."

Meanwhile Chris Nash is to return home from England's Performance Programme, in Pretoria, to have surgery on a thumb he has broken in practice. The Sussex batsman will not be replaced in the squad, which is due to stay in South Africa until December 17.