South Africa captain AB de Villiers is targeting Twenty20 success against England to help overcome the difficult days that followed their exit from the Champions Trophy.
The Proteas did not make it out of the group stage of the one-day tournament, crashing out with a feeble defeat to India at the Oval to once again fail in their quest to win a trophy on the world stage.
England, too, were left to rue what might have been after blasting their way to a semi-final meeting with Pakistan only to offer a meek effort as they slipped to a heavy defeat to the eventual winners.
Now the two sides, albeit with a number of changes to both, meet in a three-match T20 series, getting under way at the Ageas Bowl on Wednesday.
Having been criticised for South Africa's display in the 50-over format, de Villiers saw his captaincy come into question.
But he is ready to lead from the front as he targets success at the 2019 World Cup - also to be staged in England and Wales.
"I'm very excited to play in the three T20s, it was a tough few days after being knocked out of the Champions Trophy," he said.
"To go through that phase of reflecting and hearing some of the criticism. It is never easy but I have always been the kind of guy to see the positives and see opportunity to improve and these three matches give me that opportunity as a player and a captain.
"I don't feel I have to prove anything; I just want to play, I feel like a youngster starting my career. I just want to score some runs again and captain this side to a couple of wins.
"We learned a lot of things when it comes to playing cricket here (in England). Pakistan surprised all of us how they controlled the middle overs. We have taken some cricket things out of it but also from the mental point of view.
"It shows you anyone can come out on top at the end of the day. We have made quite a few mental notes and all sorts going forward to come back in 2019, I hope I will be part of that, it is part of the plan."
De Villiers will not be involved in the Test series between the two nations which follows the T20 matches.
The 33-year-old has become a short-game specialist in recent times and on Monday it was announced he would turn out for Pretoria in the newly-launched South African T20 Global League.
Having also played in the Indian Premier League and the Caribbean Premier League, de Villiers is a fan of franchise cricket - but wants to see T20s continue at international level, too.
"It is important," he said of international T20 matches.
"We don't play a lot of them. It is important for the ICC and these franchise events to get the right balance in the future for the players to know where they are going with their career.
"Franchise cricket is important, it played a huge part in my career, the IPL changed my life completely.
"It upped my skill as a player, getting used to different conditions and playing with some of my heroes. Now we have a competition at home in South Africa is great for our cricket and I am excited.
"There is a place for those tournaments and it is up to the big boards to get the decisions right.
"I have never been picking and choosing my games, it is making sure I am at my best kind of form in 2019 for that World Cup.
"That is the main goal, obviously there are a few stepping stones in order to get there."
Source: PA
