Sajid Mahmood is planning to use his recall to England’s one-day squad in South Africa as a springboard towards the Ashes defence next winter.

He will be in direct competition, though, with another bowler back in favour after two years in the international wilderness.

As Mahmood becomes reacquainted with life at the top level, Liam Plunkett will be monitoring the progress of his former team-mate with particular interest, having pipped the Lancashire player to the final position on the Test leg of the tour. They will cross next month like ships in the night.

Mahmood, in Bloemfontein before the first warm-up game on Friday, was picked ahead of Ryan Sidebottom for the five 50-over matches and preceding pair of Twenty20 games, while Plunkett earned a place for the four Test matches when the selectors decided to draw a line under Stephen Harmison, his Durham colleague.

Plunkett and Mahmood, not surprisingly, believe that they are stronger, hungrier, more consistent and know their games better for the hundreds of overs bowled in county cricket since losing their England places in 2007. Many will feel that they should have been allowed to build up that experience before being promoted in the first place.

Andy Flower, the team director, has spoken enthusiastically about Plunkett’s all-round game, hinting that he will seriously challenge Sidebottom, who is working on his fitness and conditioning in England, for a place in the starting XI. Plunkett is only 24, having made his Test and one-day debuts as a 20-year-old.

The selectors could have switched players and squads. Mahmood’s pace and steep bounce mean that he is more of a straight replacement for Harmison, while the medium-fast Plunkett has a second dimension to his one-day game as an effective hitter from around the No 9 position.

Mahmood, however, is now considered — along with James Kirtley, of Sussex — to rank among the best “death” bowlers in county cricket. Although the England hierarchy would not welcome a comparison so soon into his return, he is the nearest equivalent to Brett Lee when it comes to delivering fast yorkers and has a well-disguised slow bouncer.

England have lacked depth in penetration without Andrew Flintoff in one-day cricket. Stuart Broad has a phenomenal strike-rate and James Anderson was superb in the recent Champions Trophy, but the addition of Mahmood, 27, would give extra teeth to the attack when the limited-overs series begins on November 20.

As it happens, Mahmood expects to stay in South Africa with the Performance squad after the one-day internationals, effectively leaving him on standby for the start of the Tests. Plunkett, meanwhile, will be in South Africa with the Performance players from around November 15 and is a possible one-day reserve.

“If I have a good one-day tour, then if somebody gets injured I will be there to take advantage,” Mahmood said. “I am focusing on the one-day stuff because sometimes you can look too far ahead. However, in the back of my mind I know there is a gap in the Test side and that is where I want to be.”

Reflecting on his first spell with England, Mahmood believes that he took his situation for granted. “Everything came so easily and quickly,” he said. “I did not have to work too hard to get into the side.”