There is nothing quite like an Ashes trip Down Under.

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.

There have not been many occasions when I have bowled pain free and generally you are not 100 percent.

I think I have got a decent pain threshold.

It is easy to get carried away in this Twenty20 era and think Test cricket has to be entertaining all the time.

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.

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.

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.

I dreamt of playing for Lancashire then but never really thought it would happen.

You can feel a bit of extra pressure bowling at your own ground.

It is a knowledgeable crowd at Old Trafford and they will also tell you when you are not bowling well.

The pink ball is a bit different. I don't think it moves as much through the air.

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.

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 love talking about the game and passing on knowledge if I can but being a coach full time is another story.

To get key players out in a Test win is what you remember years later.

The Gabba is not a frightening place to play.

I would like a better record here in Australia but I would like a better record in every country.

A bully waits until they are in the ascendancy to pounce on people.

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.

I don't like half-volleys being driven for four.

No, no I don't speed or anything. I drive a VW Touareg so.

Maybe, early on, I had too many coaches, with three or four guys all giving different input.

This game's a lot easier early on in your career because people haven't seen you play. Things got a lot harder when people saw what I did with the ball and began to think about how to bat against me.

For me I love playing against the best players in the world, testing yourself and seeing whether you can get the better of them.

I've been doing a lot of strength and stretch work to get stronger.

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.

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.

I regard sledging, chirping, whatever you want to call it, as one of the weapons at my disposal.

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.

Everyone loves a comeback story, and everyone loves the underdog as well. I kind of feel like I've been the underdog. Hopefully that inspires people to not give up on themselves and their lives and not give up on their dreams.

Anxiety is a really crippling condition, and I suffer with it myself, and I feel for anyone who suffers from it. The way that I deal with it is try as much as possible to stay in the moment to not think about the past and not think about what's coming up in the future: to try and just seize the moment as much as possible.

I've found a way to live in the here and now.

I have been through and seen so many dramas and traumas and been in so many situations that I can probably interpret a few different characters.

Everybody's gone through some kind of struggle in their life, and I'd like to be the type of voice who talks about it.

It can feel like your whole world is caving in on you, and if you don't speak about it, it gets worse. You have to talk about your problems.

I have regrets, but you live and learn.

I have nothing but respect for 1D. They are great lads.

I think a lot of things get blown out of proportion in the media.

I'm a positive guy, even if I don't smile a lot.

The thing is, I knew from the very first audition that I did not fit the classic 'X Factor' criteria.

I've always maintained a good relationship with Simon Cowell, and obviously I have a great respect for him, and his show provided me with a platform to reach a lot of people, so I have the upmost respect for Simon Cowell.

I got offered loads of reality shows, including 'I'm A Celebrity' and 'Celebrity Big Brother.'

It's all about respect. I'm not going to treat a woman like a piece of meat.

I've made mistakes, and I'm very aware of them, and I've tried to better myself from those mistakes.

When I've got a girlfriend, I like to be with them as much as possible, and I'm very affectionate.

I felt like I couldn't wallow in self-pity forever. I can't beat myself up forever.

I want to say sorry for abusing my position as an 'X Factor' winner because I owe everything to this thing.

I'm just achieving goals left, right and centre, and I just feel incredibly lucky because I never thought it would happen.