It's a huge privilege to be named England Twenty20 captain and form part of a leadership team that I've no doubt will work well together with a great deal of synergy.Collection: Leadership
I play cricket for the competitive side of it.
I love that feeling of being in a battle with the new ball, you're getting an opening batsman out while they are desperate to survive.
I know I'm a better bowler and create more chances if I get a batsman indecisive in defence.
I love taking the new ball, but you've got to earn that right.
I've always targeted that number eight spot.
Playing for England is the most important thing in my life.
I've not gone out of my way to live a celebrity lifestyle, which I could easily have done.
I live in Nottingham. I love just being at home. I can shut my front door, and it's like a little haven to me rather than thinking about going to certain places to... look good.
I want to be known for my cricketing ability.
When I glare, I don't see it as aggression. I have just got such passion to get wickets. I don't ever say anything, I just have a look and see if I can get their mind concentrating on other things and get them outside their bubble. I like to get them switched on, have a look and get in a bit of a battle.
For Leicestershire, through the age groups, I didn't bowl at all. My height was below average for my age up until 17 when I had a big growth spurt. My bowling kicked on from there because I could get bounce from a fuller length and shape the ball away.
I always loved bowling.
I definitely have my dad's competitive streak in me.
We weren't wealthy but we weren't poor either. My mum was a teacher and my dad, Chris, was an England international cricketer. We were always taught respect when it came to money, and that stands me in good stead now. I've always respected my parents, and still look to them for advice when I need it.
My father was a great mentor to me and is someone I admire and look up to. However, it was my mum who was more of a driving force when it came to me and cricket - she constantly encouraged me to always remember to have fun when playing. And Mum was the one who took me round the grounds at the beginning of my career.
People say I inherited my feisty attitude on the cricket pitch from my dad, but he and I might disagree. The most useful trait I've inherited from my mother is to make sure that I'm always organised.
Everyone knows I've got a pretty passionate outlook on my cricket - and sometimes it does get the better of me.
I'm just very passionate to win games for my country - and sometimes when things don't go my way, I'll get a little bit narky.
When I watch sport I like to see the likes of Wayne Rooney when they show a bit of passion. It shows they really care when they're playing for their club and their country.
It is certainly not how I've been brought up and it's not in my blood to play cricket in that safety-first way.
If I've got a run-out chance to win the game I want to take it.
The shorter the game is then the bigger the chance of an upset.
My role changes quite a lot, but ultimately I've always admired Glenn McGrath.
You have to have a part of you like that as a bowler - that fire in you to keep going.
I have a dream of playing 100 Tests.
I am more aggressive than others, being a sportsman.
As a sportsman you are always testing your limits.
International cricket and Test cricket in particular is hard and you are going to get injuries but, if you've got a strong pool of players to pick from who can all come in and do a job, well that can only be a good thing for English cricket.
My outlook is that when you're under pressure then that is when you play your best cricket. You've got no choice but to perform to keep your place and I find that brings out the best in me.
Glenn McGrath's my hero, so I did a lot of reading on him when I was growing up.
Our training schedule can change quite a bit throughout the year - if you're going into quite a heavy Test match workload a lot of it's based on recovery and a lot of aerobic work is done in that period.
The best player I've played with would be Graeme Swann, just because he's proved that regular finger-spinners can take wickets in international cricket for England.
I found Ricky Ponting the hardest to bowl to and it was a great pleasure to play against him as he was genuinely one of the best that's ever played and a really tough competitor as well. He hated you when you were on the field but he always shook your hand and was the epitome of 'play hard but play fair.'
I really like watches and have about eight.
When I was a youngster my grandparents took me sightseeing and we went on the London Eye.
Selfridges is ideal for the lazy shopper because everything is under one roof.
Tower Bridge would make a cool house. I like the idea of living over the river.
It's very important in international cricket to be able to hold a bat, not just hold up an end, but have the ability to score runs.
As a player you get asked to do different roles within the side.
Playing for your country may seem like a massive thing, but you can build it into something it's not and put yourself under pressure from what the media say, but at the end of the day it's not life and death.
I love winning, I love playing to win. You need some of that to be a bowler. You need to have a hatred for the batsman to make sure you have that real fire to perform.
The more you can keep your action and your mind and the ball you are delivering as simple as you can nothing can go wrong.
In Twenty20 the less fear you play with the better you're going to do.
People talk about cricket being an individual game but I really don't agree; everything is done in a partnership.
I try to look for tempo in my run-up to make sure my knees are lifting up instead of going long. That brings an energy to my run-up, try and make myself feel as tall as I can.
Bowlers have to accept they will go for runs sometimes.
I don't want to lose any of that passion for the game; as a bowler I need to have that real desire to get the batsman out and be in their face and be aggressive.
A large part of my childhood was spent holding a cricket bat. The first time I picked one up was in the garden aged about six, and I've never really put the bat down since.
It is important as a bowler that you always need to have a presence. If you lose that you lose quite a bit, a big part of your armoury. It comes naturally with me, and at times it is a huge advantage. I don't want to lose it. I want to keep getting wickets.