If you are the sort of character who likes to feel you are in a battle, then make sure you do that.
I know the International Cricket Council are very strict about what you are allowed to do and what looks good on TV, but you can't let that take away from your natural game.
When two players are playing with passion for their country, that's good to see.
When you look at the best Nos. 6 and 7 in the world, they all average above 45, so gone are the days when you could get away with someone at 6 or 7 who's below 40. You need to have those runs on the board.
The history of Test cricket will suggest if you hold the top of off longer than anyone else you will have success, in England particularly it's about owning the top of off.
As a bowler I think I am more wicket-based than some.
I like to take wickets and see wickets and chances and I think in T20 cricket you have to risk a boundary to take a wicket.
If someone wants to try to hit a spinner over mid-on, with the ball turning away from the blade, there is a chance of taking a wicket.
It is a proud moment to lead England out any time you do and on a world stage it gives it an extra oomph as well but it will be down there with the biggest lows if we don't win.
I am one of these characters who seems to thrive off a little bit of niggle, a little bit of pressure.
It's quite strange, because off the field I'm quite shy, quiet, prefer to watch a bit of TV at home, but get me on the cricket field I like it all kicking off.
I think that the older I get, the more I play, you realise when it's your time.
You get judged on your results.
Ultimately we're playing cricket and we want guys who will score runs and take catches to help England win.
I'm not someone who looks to swing the ball away majorly.
I've always enjoyed playing the shortest form of the game and I relish the opportunity to develop my leadership skills as England's Twenty20 captain.
Within the changing room, everyone has always known I'm best when I pitch the ball up and get a little bit of movement.
I'm a passionate player when I pull that England shirt on; it's a very special and proud moment for you.
You have got to try to make the batsman feel a bit uncomfortable to get him out.
It's just important to try to keep a cool head and stay logical rather than emotional. But then again you have to keep that balance between not becoming too logical because you need to have that passion in order to play to 100% in the game.
Can't resist Haribos.
Part and parcel of being an international sportsman is dealing with fair or unfair criticism and also when you are on the back pages when you are performing.
You have to deal with your emotions and not spike too much on the graph - not get too elated with the highs or too down with the lows.
When you are performing at the top level you don't get many chances to go back to basics as you are in elite performance mode. It's hard to break your technique or action down when it always needs to be at a match intensity.
I don't think you can let comments affect you too much as then you are not doing your job properly.
Without the players, there's no game.
I've always had an interest in the media, I love cricket, so why wouldn't I want to be around it?
My earliest memories were in the back of my grandad's car listening to Test Match Special.
My favourite commentators are the ones that don't need to hear the sound of their own voice the whole time.
I like it when the captain comes to me and says, 'We're really desperate for a wicket, can you get us one?' or when we really need something to happen in a Test match.
I'd rather be the guy you can turn to in a high-pressure scenario than a dead rubber.
I need to keep moving my game forward, because Test batsmen will keep moving their games forward.
There are always distractions in international cricket because that's part of being an international sportsman.
As soon as you come into the England team, the ICC get hold of you; you're put through this video, which is very watchable, very clear - it takes you back to when you were five or six, that's how clear it is. It outlines everything you're not allowed to do, everything you are allowed to do.
In international sport you get distractions all the time, but at the end of the day that shouldn't affect how you deliver a ball or how you hit a ball.
That's one of the nice things about being a sportsman is that once you cross that white line, it is a freedom, you are away from everything in life really. You are playing cricket and that's an escape from everything. That's as clear as you get really.
My life changed forever the first time I went to the southern hemisphere.
I turned out to be a very good cement-mixer.
I might be six foot six but that doesn't mean I can play a Steve Harmison role and bounce people out.
Shaun Pollock is actually the best role model for me as a very good attritional bowler.
That's one of the good things about cricket, the friendships around the game.
Marcus Trescothick. No question. I hate bowling to him. I pitch it up, he drives me through the covers. I bowl back of a length, he runs me down to third-man. I go short, and he lifts me over the keeper or pulls me for four.
I have watched games at the Gabba since I was a youngster, staying up for the first 10 minutes until I fell asleep.
I'm aware how special an achievement 100 caps is because of the players that have come before me and the amount they've given to English cricket.
I don't really understand Darren Lehmann coming out and saying the South African crowd has been out of order. Any England player, even media, who have toured Australia can laugh at those comments because some of the things we hear on the pitch from Australian supporters, known as 'banter,' I know is worse than in South Africa.
When you're young you're influenced by the best teams. So a lot of my favourite cricketers were Australian.
I'll play as long as that competitive spirit and drive is there because that's what gets me up in the morning, that feeling of having a batsman drive at you, play and miss, the sort of theatre around that sort of stuff.