The left-armer is set to play County Championship cricket with Surrey before the international summer begins against New Zealand in June
Sam Curran will use the opening rounds of the LV=Insurance County Championship with Surrey to stake a claim for an England Test recall.
The 23-year-old missed the winter including the World Cup, the Ashes and the T20 and Test series in West Indies with a stress fracture in his lower back.
Curran has resumed bowling and is expected to play domestic first-class cricket for the first time since 2019.
Surrey kick-off their campaign against defending county champions Warwickshire at Edgbaston from April 7 - their first of six games before the international summer begins.
World Test Championship holders New Zealand are England's first opponents, with a three-Test series taking place in June.
Matches across the formats against Netherlands, India and South Africa follow before the delayed tour to Pakistan and the T20 World Cup in Australia.
Alongside some media commitments and a holiday with his girlfriend in Mexico, Curran has used his spell on the sidelines to refresh his mind and body, ahead of trying to win back his England place.
Curran is gearing up for the start of the new domestic season (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
"Of course, it (the back injury) is a concern but I guess it's been an opportunity for me to have time away from the game," Curran said. "I haven't stopped for six years from school.
"I've really enjoyed just working on my technique - bowling technique and batting technique - which I haven't done for a long time because it's always been game, travel, game. It's always been just constant matches.
"So I guess there's always going to be nerves (about) if it's healed, so that's why I'm not rushing back, I'm just managing. But I'm back bowling now, I'm bowling in training.
"There's a lot of cricket this summer so I'm almost timing it that I get a good summer, make it perfectly in time for the summer Test against New Zealand in June."
Defeat in the World Cup semi-final to the Black Caps, a 4-0 Ashes series humiliation by Australia and a 3-2 and 1-0 reverse in the T20 and Test series against West Indies made it a winter to forget for England.
And Curran found the experience of watching from afar, powerless to influence events, a frustrating one.
"Having watched the winter it was hard to kind of put myself in their shoes and I wanted to be on the field helping them," he added.
"I definitely want to go back [to the IPL] at some stage because you learn so much about your T20 game there: it's a tournament when you live and breathe cricket."
"It's always the goal to contribute with bat and ball, I like to see myself as that impact player.
"When I'm batting, bat like a batsman, when I'm bowling, try and bowl like a first-class bowler.
"My sights are always set on trying to get in that England side in the summer.
"I feel like I've done some really good work, made some good changes, but I don't want to put pressure on myself because it's not very helpful.
"Come next week it's all about just hoping you're fit, hoping you're strong and let's go."
Injury not only meant Curran had to pull out of the second half of last year's IPL, but that he was unable to enter himself for the mega auction ahead of the 2022 competition.
And on balance he believes it was the right decision.
The T20 World Cup in Australia is among the targets for Curran (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
"I'm gutted not to be there," he told ESPNCricinfo. "It's a frustration watching from home. I wanted to go [into the auction] but I didn't in the end - which was probably the best decision.
"Looking back, IPL probably came a little bit too soon.
"I could have probably rolled the dice and said 'let's go'. I'm back bowling in the nets now, so if you work it out, I could probably have been bowling out there.
"But I'm still quite young, so I didn't want to overdo it with the match intensity and big crowds out there and risk another injury from coming back too early.
"At the time, I was really frustrated that I didn't go into the auction, but looking back at how the last couple of months have gone - I haven't been part of Surrey's winter for a long time, so it has been nice to be part of it again.
"I definitely want to go back [to the IPL] at some stage because you learn so much about your T20 game there: it's a tournament when you live and breathe cricket.
"You go down for breakfast every day and you're sitting with superstars, sitting down and chatting about the game."
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