I am delighted to report my recovery is still on track after a quick trip back to the UK to visit my knee specialist, Andy Williams. I flew back for my 12-week check up and I must admit I was a little concerned. I was anxious and it was playing on my mind that he was going to say the operation had not been successful.

 

It was the first time the specialist had really looked at my knee since the operation and I had a scan prior to the check-up so he could examine the results and fortunately, he was very pleased with my progress. It was a huge weight off my mind and a big relief that I was on track. I know I’m not in the clear yet and there is still a lot of hard work to be done, but so far, so good and it is very good news because if he'd said he was disappointed with my progress I’d have been devastated.

 

For all the good news, however, I know I can’t get carried away about this because I’m still some way away from playing again and I must admit that saying I would be fit to play for England in Bangladesh in mid-February may have been a touch optimistic on my part. Quite apart from being pleased with my knee, the other good news I received from the specialist was that he said I should not be doing as much running in my training. I would imagine I will still have to do some running to get back in shape, but I think the days of me pounding the treadmill are over. As you can imagine, I was gutted to hear that although I doubt the new regime will be easy.

 

I think my schedule now will entail building up strength in my leg so I am in a position to run again. There will be general conditioning with work in the pool and the gym and there is a bit of inflammation around my knee which still needs to die down before I can get too carried away and I know the healing process isn’t over yet. The important thing is that I am still on track to play again and I am prepared to wait as long as it takes to get back onto the field.

 

My trip to the UK wasn’t all about my fitness, however, and I was also able to call in at Lancashire to sign a new three-year contract to play one-day cricket for them. Being back at Old Trafford was strange because I hadn’t been back for a while and I was quite excited to be back in familiar surroundings again. I hope my new contract will help both myself and Lancashire and it would be good to finish my career by helping them win some more silverware.

 

During my brief time back in England, I also had one of my more unusual interviews for CBBC. A friendly character called Fat Sam asked me various questions sent in by children for the TMi programme. I won’t spoil the fun by telling you what happened in advance, but it was certainly different from the normal interviews I do!

 

I was also able to attend the Cosmopolitan Awards ceremony while I was down in London, where I collected the Ultimate Man of the Year award much to my surprise and was then driven to the F-word studios where I was interviewed by Gordon Ramsay. I wouldn't say it was my normal night out, but it’s back to training for me from now on.

 

I’ll be back in touch when I’ve got a bit more news about my training and, hopefully, a possible return to playing cricket again.