Samit Patel will make his long-awaited return to international cricket when England face Sri Lanka in a Twenty20 International at Bristol on Saturday.

Patel’s inclusion in 12-man squads for the one-off fixture and five subsequent NatWest Series ODIs brings to an end three years in the international wilderness.

His century for the England Lions against Sri Lanka and solid form for Nottinghamshire have earned him a return to the fold which he is keen to grasp.

“Being selected in the squad is only the start of it because I need to earn a place in the team and score enough runs and take enough wickets to justify staying there.” Samit Patel

“Things have gone very well for me with Nottinghamshire this season and I was pleased with my performance for England Lions in a game in which I knew I had to perform,” said Patel, who will hope to feature when England face Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge on Wednesday 6 July.

“Playing regularly for England has always been my aim and I came to realise that I needed to work on the things that were being pointed out to me and to be a match-winner for Nottinghamshire to force my way back in.

“Being selected in the squad is only the start of it because I need to earn a place in the team and score enough runs and take enough wickets to justify staying there.”

Patel’s haul of 5-41 against South Africa at Headingley in 2008 is the undoubted highlight of his international career to date and Nottinghamshire Director of Cricket Mick Newell hopes that he can re-establish himself on the international scene.

“Andy Flower has been keen to get Samit back involved and he has done the work to put himself back in the selectors’ thoughts,” he said.

“If they want to play two spinners in this series then Graeme Swann and Samit Patel are definitely the best players available and the bonus with Samit is that he can bat at six or seven as well.

“This is a huge moment in his career because there are ten One Day Internationals over the course of the summer and he has an opportunity to establish himself in the England setup.”