Darren Maddy is facing another intense examination of his temperament and technique in the next 48 hours as he attempts to transfer his domestic Twenty20 expertise to the international arena.

The Warwickshire captain is renowned as one of the outstanding Twenty20 players in county cricket and played a leading role in helping Leicestershire to win the trophy in 2004 and 2006.

But seven years after being discarded from England's Test and one-day plans, the 33-year-old all-rounder is relishing a chance to produce his skills in the shortest format in the game against the world's top players.

Maddy may have the ability to reverse-sweep county seamers for six or bowl a slower ball to domestic batsmen but now he is aware he has to deliver the same against the world's best players at the World Twenty20 Championship here.

"It's a step up in class but the principles of the game are very much the same," said Maddy, one of five Twenty20 specialists in the squad. "It's just about executing the skill at the highest level - it's no different to playing championship cricket and moving up to Test match level. You've got to have that belief and try to do the good things you've been doing and take them into the international game."

All five of England's specialists for this tournament - Maddy, Worcestershire captain Vikram Solanki, Chris Schofield, James Kirtley and Jeremy Snape - have been tried and discarded by the selectors. But the introduction of the Twenty20 Cup in 2003 gave them an opportunity for another chance at the highest level and to help England build on the momentum of their outstanding one-day series triumph over India.

Maddy said: "We've all had a taste of international cricket and I suppose, because of the heavy international schedule, we've probably got the most experience in this form of the game at the moment.

"You never give up hope but you start to question if it will ever come around again. I kept the faith and I kept believing and I kept my work ethic and tried to put in performances at domestic level - it's taken me seven years but it's nice to get another opportunity and another taste of it again."

Maddy is the first to admit that he failed to take his chances last time around, when he was selected for the Millennium tour of South Africa - Duncan Fletcher's first as England coach. He played in the final two Tests of that series but his highest score was only 24. He played eight one-day internationals in all, scoring a career-best 53 against Zimbabwe in Harare that same winter.

But with only two practice sessions - yesterday and today - before England's opening match against Zimbabwe at Newlands, Maddy is determined to have no regrets this time around if he is given another opportunity to impress.

He said: "To represent your country is the ultimate honour but there is also a lot of frustration about it because my opportunities were limited and I'm honest enough to say that I probably didn't take them at that time. I always got positive feedback from my time with that squad but I didn't make the most of my opportunities.

"Going back to county cricket, it took me a year to sort myself out by which time Marcus Trescothick came in, played very well and secured the place for himself."

England practised fielding drills for 90 minutes yesterday before the predicted south easterly storm - one of many which have undermined preparations in Cape Town for the tournament - curtailed their session.

They will hope for an improvement in the weather today as they complete their preparations while Zimbabwe begin their tournament against Australia on a Newlands surface boasting large mud-patches from recent heavy rain.