Sajid Mahmood has hailed the influence Peter Moores has had on his international recall, despite the former coach overlooking the fast bowler during his tenure as England boss.

The 27-year-old is in South Africa for the limited-overs leg of their two and a half month tour and is in line for a first appearance in an England shirt for more that two years.

Mahmood, now coached by Moores at his county side Lancashire, played the last of his 25 one-day internationals under Duncan Fletcher at the 2007 World Cup.

After that tournament in the West Indies, Moores replaced Fletcher but preferred not to select the paceman, who has enjoyed a successful 2009 domestic season taking 24 wickets in 16 matches to force his way back into the team, which is now coached by Andy Flower.

"He's definitely helped me quite a bit," Mahmood said. "Obviously he's coached England and he's come straight in with Lancs.

"To be able to speak to him on where he thinks my game needs to be to get selected or to perform at international level has been good.

"I spent quite a bit of time with him in the nets and he's taught me different aspects of my game, which I probably need to improve more to help my consistency side of things.

"So to be able to have him there and to talk to him, with him being in the England set-up so recently, was a massive help for me.

"It sort of showed, especially in my one-day performances were a lot more consistent. So it's helped me quite a bit."

Now back in the fold, Mahmood could play a big role for his country once the international battle with the Proteas begins next Friday.

After three warm-up games, England begin with two Twenty20 internationals followed by a five-match one-day series and the Bolton-born bowler is determined to prove his worth.

He continued: "I think the main reason I got sort of dropped from the international side was consistency - a lot of up and downs. I've now had over two years out of the (international) game, playing county cricket and away from the spotlight if you like.

"I could reflect on what I did and where I needed to be. The massive thing was consistency, so I've gone back and worked on hitting certain areas with my bowling and trying to perform a lot more consistent and just doing stuff on a regular basis.

"I've been waiting for over two years now and to get the call-up for the tour was fantastic.

"I've been working really hard in those two years, trying to put things right and everything's worked out pretty well for Lancashire. So I'm really looking forward to getting on with it."

And Mahmood knows that in South Africa, they face a daunting challenge.

He added: "You can't get away from the fact that they are a fantastic team. It's going to be a big challenge for us, but the boys thrive on challenges.

"Obviously you want to play good sides in cricket and be able to test yourself and test your ability.

"Hopefully it will bring the best out of us and the boys can go out onto the park and put up a good performance against them."