I’m still hungry for success and want two more Ashes victories
Injuries have not dampened my optimism for England’s new era
The ambition to play one more Ashes in England is still strong. It is two years away and I know a lot can happen in that time. A player can get a careerending injury at any moment or a lack of form can cost them their place, so I know I have to take it step by step, summer by summer.
I have had a few injuries recently. I can’t shy away from that. I was lucky to go almost 10 years without any fitness problems and they have come in a cluster. I understand that when a player reaches his mid-thirties, and has a few injuries, people start to question how long he can last.
But I can say going into today’s Test with South Africa that I don’t feel too old. I still feel in good nick. I still feel fit and hungry to play and I am enjoying the game. As long as that carries on and I am bowling well then the doubts will go away.
It feels strange at the moment because I feel like I have something to prove. People touch on my age and think I’m reaching the end, so I want to prove I deserve a place in the side by performing well. If I can do that this summer then it will stand me in good stead for Australia.
I want to go to Australia this winter. It is an amazing tour. There is nothing quite like an Ashes trip Down Under. I have experienced both winning and losing in Australia and I feel like I have unfinished business.
But I have never looked too far ahead. It can be a dangerous thing if you start thinking about the winter. It takes the focus away from what you are trying to achieve in the here and now, which is keeping myself in good shape and fit.
When I pulled a muscle in my groin against Yorkshire a few weeks ago I feared I would not be fit for this match. At first I probably over-reacted by collapsing in a heap at the crease. I had never pulled a muscle before like that and it was a shock. Afterwards I felt a little bit stupid having made a meal of it but the physio originally said the injury could take up to six weeks to heal, which would have put this Test in doubt. Luckily I managed to recover well, worked really hard to get where I am today and ended up coming back a game earlier than expected for Lancashire.
I feel good now. I am still working on my shoulder to make sure that does not come back again.
We never really had a definitive diagnosis. I had a lot of scans on it and saw specialists but shoulders are complicated joints and it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what is going wrong. We have a fair idea but, more importantly, I know how to manage it and what works for it in the gym. As long as I am bowling without pain then I am fine, it is just a case of looking after it by being sensible. I had a good long bowl on Tuesday, but did nothing yesterday so it is just a case of trying to make sure I do not overwork it. It has coped with everything I have thrown at it this summer. I bowled 32 overs in an innings last week on a flat pitch at Edgbaston and it was fine.
We now have seven Tests in just over eight weeks and it will be a big ask for any bowler, regardless of their age and fitness, to play in every match. We will have to play it by ear. We are monitored all the time. We wear GPS sensors even in the nets so if our workloads are too high we will sit out a match. It is just about being sensible.
Joe Root has been his usual self this week. You cannot treat someone differently just because they have become captain. We still took the mickey out of Alastair Cook when he was in charge. You have to treat them first and foremost as a team-mate. Rooty is a character in the dressing room and you can’t lose that. The dressing room needs Joe to be himself.
As senior players Cook, Stuart Broad and myself feel a responsibility to try to help him settle in to the job because it is not going to be easy.
Joe has not got a huge amount of captaincy experience so we have a role to play helping him on and off the field. We can help with field settings and ensure there is the right atmosphere around the group. The easier we can make life for him the better. It will only be as the series goes on that we will see him come into his own and find out what he is actually like as a captain.
Rooty is a character in the dressing room and you can’t lose that. We need him to be himself