Tom Curran wants to be “one of the first names on the teamsheet” ahead of World Cup

"It is hard not to look ahead to the World Cup," he told Sky Sports. "It is such an exciting period but it is about taking each series as it comes. Now it's about making it permanent, trying to force my way into the side so that I am one of the first names on the teamsheet."

First up, however, is England’s ODI tour of Sri Lanka, which the tourists go into as favourites. Curran says he and the team have plenty of match practice behind them, though the unique weather conditions in Sri Lanka still present a challenge.

"We have just come off a full summer of playing so it is not like we are short of game time," he said. "We had a couple of good net sessions bowling in the heat.

"This is nothing like this [the rain] back home, it is end of the world type rain! There is not much to do, a few boys will go to the gym, a bit of recovery and a bit of Xbox. It's a mixture."

For Curran, the story is slightly different, with an injury-truncated summer contributing to a lack of game time. "I came back from the IPL [Indian Premier League] and picked a couple of niggles which put me out of the white-ball summer so it was frustrating."

The period out has at least allowed Curran to look back on the early stages of his career. Though in its nascent stages, it already contains its share of highlights, including figures of 5/35 which helped England secure a thrilling 12-run win over Australia in Perth in January.

"You get time to reflect and set goals," he said. “The five-wicket haul against Australia, it was a 'right you can do it at this level' moment. When you make your debut at this level obviously there are going to be nerves, it's about doing it on this stage."

England’s ODI series against Sri Lanka commences on Wednesday, 10 October at Dambulla.