Adil Rashid suggested any tactical U-turn from England's white-ball teams could mean years of progress being lost as he predicted continued aggression would bring its rewards.

The spinner is set for a key role as England tackle South Africa in a three-match T20I series that begins at the County Ground in Bristol on Wednesday.

Rashid, with 81 wickets in 73 T20I outings, ranks second only to Chris Jordan on the list of England's bowlers with the most victims in the short-form international game.

There has been a rocky start to the new era for England that has seen Matthew Mott come in as white-ball coach and Jos Buttler replace Eoin Morgan as captain.

England lost ODI and T20I series to India, both by a 2-1 margin, and then drew 1-1 with the South Africans in ODIs after the third match was abandoned due to rain at Headingley.

But Rashid says it would be a mistake to panic and implement changes, particularly in light of the T20 World Cup coming up in October.

He told Sky Sports: "Sometimes you win some and sometimes you lose some. But if we maintain our mindset and have that positive, aggressive brand of cricket we're playing, I'm sure we'll do well.

"More often than not, if you have that mindset and are playing with that aggressiveness and you're fully committed to it, it will come off. I think we're in a good place.

"Why would we change? I think we've done well the last seven or eight years, we've done well in 50 overs and T20, and I think we'll continue doing what we have been doing."

Rashid said England's mindset was to be "playing as if it's our last game", adding: "I think the focus is the World Cup but before that, we've still got plenty of cricket to be played and hopefully we can run into some good form by then."

Yorkshire star Rashid said he was "not even thinking" about the prospect of playing Tests again – "because there's so much white-ball cricket".

Rashid has played 118 ODIs and 73 T20I matches, and won the last of his 19 Test caps against West Indies in January 2019. 


England out to make amends, Proteas look to catch a break

After Wednesday's opener, England and South Africa will carry on their rivalry in Cardiff on Thursday and Southampton for the finale on Sunday.

England's T20I setback against India halted a run of three successive series victories, and they have never lost back-to-back home series before in the shortest international format. They have beaten South Africa in five of their last six T20I matches, but that lone defeat came in their last meeting, at last year's World Cup.

There has been a swing of momentum towards England in the T20I rivalry between the sides, with England winning their last three bilateral series after two drawn series and a loss in the three prior. South Africa last beat England in such a series in February 2016.

If South Africa are to prevail, their catching might need to surpass recent standards. England have a catch success rate of 86 per cent (155 of 180 chances) in men's T20Is since the beginning of 2020, which is the best in the elite-level game, but South Africa sit 10th on that list with a 76 per cent record.

Buttler and De Kock chase landmarks

The runs have dried up for new captain Buttler, who has managed just 147 across eight innings in limited-overs internationals this month. He is 56 runs away from becoming the batter with the most runs in men's T20Is against South Africa, having amassed 416 to date, putting him behind Martin Guptill (424) and David Warner (471).

On the South African side, Quinton de Kock is 72 short of overtaking JP Duminy to become his country's leading run-scorer in all men's T20Is. He and the now-retired Duminy are tied for the most fifties in the format for the Proteas, both having made 11 half-centuries.