Newly-married James Tredwell will have some consolation even if he ends up carrying the drinks for England - because at least he will be missing the DIY at home.

The 27-year-old Kent off-spinner has emerged as a candidate for a one-day international debut at Centurion in the second fixture in a five-match series against South Africa.

Tredwell was summoned as like-for-like cover for the injured Graeme Swann only three days ago yet could be in line for his first taste of international cricket if England prefer his skills to those of young leg-spinner Adil Rashid on this occasion.

For Tredwell, it has been a whirlwind week - and a remarkable turn of events since he got married last month, with a successful county season nicely under his belt but no clue that he might be joining England in South Africa.

"I got the phone call on Wednesday at one o'clock - and then I was on the plane at eight that evening," he recalled, after impressing in England's net session on Saturday.

"By the time I got home, I had about 45 minutes to pack - so I chucked it all in. Whether I've got it all or not, I don't know."

Tredwell admits to just slightly mixed feelings at having to leave so abruptly. But he is delighted to have got the call from his country - and in any case, he was planning a cricketing trip to India next month which, for the moment at least, is now on hold.

It is not clear at this stage how long the shelves will have to wait back in Kent, before the man about the house returns to his screwdriver.

"We're getting a bit of DIY done at home, so the house is a bit of a shambles at the minute," he admits.

"My wife's a nurse, so she's pretty hectic with work at the minute.

"But obviously she's delighted for me to get the call - so it's kind of happy and sad at the moment, I guess."

Tredwell was still unsure on the eve of his possible debut whether he was about to get the nod.

But having already been part of one England ODI tour - to New Zealand last year - he is confident he has learned much and is ready to put it into practice if his opportunity comes.

"My confidence is sky-high at the moment," he reports.

"I've been part of this squad before, and that has given me an idea of the type of thing to do.

"I probably went about it the wrong way in New Zealand, in terms of the way I attacked and got immersed in the whole thing.

"But one-day cricket has probably been my strength over my whole career, so I like to think I've built up several different gameplans to combat different situations."

Tredwell knows his England prospects are likely to depend as much on Swann's recovery from a side problem as his own abilities.

But come what may, he believes he - and other off-spinners around the world - already owe Swann, for proving over the last 12 months that right-arm finger spinners do not necessarily need mystery deliveries to remain relevant.

"It's on a day-to-day basis, I think - monitoring Swanny as we go and seeing how I perform," said Tredwell, who voiced his gratitude to his rival for the points he has proven since his return to the England reckoning.

"The view was certainly that with the unorthodox spin floating around, those days had gone for the traditional off-spinner - and I think Swanny's done us the world of good really," he added.

"It's brought belief back for young people coming up, that there is certainly a place for us."

There is set to be a place too for Paul Collingwood to become an unlikely record-breaker - with 171 appearances if he defies a niggling back problem, to go ahead of former captain Alec Stewart as England's most-capped ODI player.

England's number one seamer Jimmy Anderson is also expecting to be fit after having had two recent injections to combat his knee trouble, in a series still all-square after the first match was washed out at The Wanderers on Friday.