Andrew Flintoff is hoping England's new-look line-up can use its five-match series against South Africa's powerful side as a springboard to finally finding consistent success on the world stage.
England begin the NatWest Series with Friday's day-night international at Headingley against a South Africa side who can regain the number one spot in the official one-day rankings if they achieve a 4-1 series triumph or better in the coming weeks.
Short of facing world champions Australia, which England will do next summer, it could not face a tougher start to the new regime under recently-appointed captain Kevin Pietersen.
But 30-year-old all-rounder Flintoff, now the oldest player in the squad while Paul Collingwood serves out the remaining game in his four-match ban, believes the challenge of taking on one of the best teams in the world can inspire England to new heights.
"It's a pretty different team to the Test side and a lot of lads have come in wanting to impress and cement spots within the side so there's a freshness about the squad," said Flintoff.
"Kevin has obviously taken over as captain and everyone is eager to impress. England for a long time now have under-performed in one-day cricket and we've got a chance to address that now and hopefully put some performances in."
During Flintoff's 125-match career with England's one-day side they have continually under-performed and have not reached the deciding stages of a World Cup since reaching the final at Melbourne in 1992.
Its record in Champion Trophy tournaments is little better, although it did lose in the 2004 final on home soil, but with a new captain and rapidly-evolving side Flintoff hopes this current group can end the years of failure and finally perform on the world stage.
"It probably goes back further than just us," he stressed. "We got to the World Cup final in 1992 and since then we've never been consistent.
"We're definitely aware of that but we can't let it lie too heavily on us. We've got to go out there and perform and we're well aware of that, but we've got to do it consistently."
Victory in the series against South Africa would suggest a major turnaround in fortunes after winning just six out of the last 19 matches while the tourists have won 16 of their last 19, including winning their last nine in a row.
"They're the form side, they've beaten everyone they've come up against," conceded Flintoff.
"They are a formidable team in one-day internationals and it's going to be tough for us but we've got to test ourselves against these sides.
"We've beaten the best sides in the world before, but we've got to beat them over a period of time and not just in one-off games."
Having Flintoff back in their line-up will be a considerable bonus for an England team without Collingwood while left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom is yet to recover from the hip problem which has troubled him recently.
Sidebottom's absence should ensure Yorkshire all-rounder Tim Bresnan makes his return at the same venue where he was hit for 29 runs in just two overs on his previous appearance for England at Headingley against Sri Lanka two years ago.
He is expected to take his place in a line-up which is likely to mirror the same aggressive attitude displayed by their captain, who encouraged his team to play with intent