Hashim Amla is someone that stands out. He's a world-class player and I have not had a huge amount of success against him.

I understand that when a player reaches his mid-thirties, and has a few injuries, people start to question how long he can last.

There is a lot of talk about how Twenty20 has changed batting techniques in Test cricket. But it has also had an impact on bowling.

Partnerships are not just about bowling in tandem all the time. It all is about helping the other guy get in the right frame of mind.

Lord's is such a special place and to get my first and now my 500th wickets here is something that will live with me for a long time.

It would obviously be a big deal to reach 500 wickets but I don't see it as a target or goal, it's not something that has driven me on.

For me, what works is keeping training short but with high intensity and then recovering well. Physio, massage, icing, things like that.

I realise I would not be the bowler I am today without the experiences, positive and negative, that I have had in Australia down the years.

When games are close together you have to draw a line under the first match whether you win or lose, and then start again for the next one.

If you can dismiss the best in the world, it means you're doing something right and have the quality needed to perform at the highest level.

Trent Bridge, 2013, is my favourite Test. An Ashes opener and England won a thriller by 14 runs. I managed to take ten wickets, which helps.

I've spent most of my life watching fast bowlers - initially as a kid on TV and later in the flesh when I started playing top-level cricket.

Ben Stokes, for example, is someone who plays better when he is a bit aggressive - and that's something you don't want to take away from him.

Growing up, my education about Test cricket came from dad's video of the 1981 Ashes series - and Ian Botham's incredible match at Headingley.

Milestones have never really meant a lot. They probably will mean more when I've finished playing and actually reflect on what I have achieved.

In the heat of battle you might not be thinking clearly and that is when players have to take on the responsibility of helping the other guys out.

I'm proud to have represented England in four World Cups but it was hugely frustrating that we never reached a semi-final or played to our ability.

I've spoken to people who have retired once they lost the enjoyment of a long day in the field or going to the gym. If I lose that, it's time to go.

As a cricketer you can go under the radar. It's not like we're footballers who get papped everywhere. I can go down to the corner shop without getting hassled.

The first time Stuart Broad walked into the dressing room, with his flowing blond hair, striking blue eyes and perfect figure, I thought: 'My God, she's beautiful.'

If someone says something to me, I am not going to back down. Whether it's defending myself or standing up for one of my teammates, that is the way I play the game.

Dealing with sledging is an individual thing. For me, I am not going to take abuse from David Warner or anyone else and not have a word back. But it is down to the person.

Some of the best cricketers in the world were very quiet on the field but came across in a way that made it very hard to sledge them. It went in one ear and out the other.

Part of the reason I fell in love with cricket was watching fast bowlers. They provide a sense of theatre with dramatic, ferocious spells and that applies as much in one-day cricket as in Tests.

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.

I first got into cricket by watching Test matches on TV and listening to overseas tours on the radio. The sport really grabbed me - and it didn't matter that England weren't hugely successful back then.

At that speed, batsmen are almost trying to premeditate where the ball will be - they feel like they don't have time to react or move. That's the difference between bowling in the mid-80s and the mid-90s.

You can get suckered into believing you have to always be attacking with the bat, ball or fielding positions. But Test cricket is not always like that. There are times when it is a bit slow paced and even a bit boring.

Obviously, when I go in at No. 11 it stands to reason that we will have a better chance of scoring runs or batting out time if the batsman at the other end takes most of the strike. That's because, as my place in the order suggests, he is a better batsman than me.

A lot is made of the pink ball. But it is the same really. A good ball is a good ball, regardless of the colour. You might want to bowl a touch fuller with the pink ball when it is nipping around but generally a pink kookaburra behaves the same as a red kookaburra.

I remember my first meeting with Alastair Cook clearly. The entire Lancashire side, some of them pretty mild-mannered, really laid into him. He'd just scored a double-hundred for Essex against Australia in a warm-up match before the 2005 Ashes. For some reason, we all assumed he must be really arrogant.

From an England point of view they have put money into white-ball cricket because our performances in World Cups has not been good enough, I understand the reasons for that. But we have to be careful not to go too one-day, we have to find a balance because there is such a legacy of Test cricket in this country and we can't lose that.

I remember playing a Twenty20 game in Australia in 2007 and Matthew Hayden smacked one back at me. My head goes down as I follow through and as I looked up I just saw this white flash pass about an inch from the side of my head. If it had been a touch straighter I would not have had time to react and who knows what could have happened.

You so often see bowlers pick out a lovely new ball from the bag at nets and it looks great when it swings in the air and nips off the seam with batsmen playing and missing. But you have to simulate match situations. What about when the ball is 60 overs old, the sun is blazing down, the pitch is flat and there's not a hint of movement?

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