Adil Rashid is hopeful of quickly rediscovering the "snap" in his bowling action after a shoulder injury which he suspects would have ruled him out of England's triumphant World Cup campaign without two injections.
Rashid was the leading one-day international wicket-taker in the four-year cycle between the 2015 and 2019 World Cups but he returned just 11 scalps at a bloated average of 47.81 during England's historic success on home soil, albeit in a tournament where most spinners underwhelmed.
In order to simply play a full role, the leg-spinner revealed he had two cortisone injections into the joint of his right shoulder because the intense pain left him unable to raise his arm with ball in hand.
He said: "One was literally a week before the World Cup, one was a month and a half before that. The steroid injection (another term for cortisone injection) helped a lot.
"But you're never 100 per cent, if you speak to any bowler, no bowler is 100 per cent fit.
"I'm just happy I got through the World Cup, tried to the best of my ability with the shoulder I had and I'm quite happy with how things turned out."
Speaking to the BBC's Test Match Special, he added: "I had to find a way and the injection was the only thing I could do before the World Cup.
"If I didn't take the injection, I don't reckon I would have played a part because it was actually that bad. Before the injection it was painful. I actually couldn't lift my arm with the ball."
The injury curtailed Rashid's summer following the dramatic World Cup final victory over New Zealand in July, with the Yorkshireman forgoing surgery and deciding instead on treating the problem with rest and rehabilitation.
He returned to action on Sunday for the first time in three months and was the pick of England's attack with two for 25 in the six-wicket victory over a New Zealand XI in a Twenty20 warm-up in Lincoln.
While Rashid admitted he is still not firing on all cylinders, he is in an optimistic mood ahead of the start of the five-match T20 series against the Black Caps, which gets under way in Christchurch on Friday.
He said: "From three months ago to now, it's got a lot better. I would still say it's not 100 per cent but that's something I'm working towards and hopefully I can get that soon.
"I've still not quite got my snap that I would like, personally. But hopefully that will come as time goes on, maybe before the first T20 my snap might be there, the pace I want to bowl to.
"But at this moment in time, it's something that I've got to really drive towards and look forward to getting it stronger."
Rashid will be rested for the second practice match at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval on Tuesday, with Matt Parkinson a like-for-like replacement.
Parkinson was one of three touring players – alongside batsman Dawid Malan and seamer Pat Brown – who travelled to the venue a few miles south west of England's Christchurch base for an optional training session on Monday afternoon.
