Thursday 14 July 2016 08:52, UK
Jonny Bairstow looks ahead to the first Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's, discusses Mohammad Amir's return, revels in England Rugby's series win in Australia, and tries his hand at fencing…
I got the opportunity to try a bit of fencing this week down at Team GB headquarters.
I was alright. I managed to get a couple of points off a couple of the guys, but it's safe to say it's probably not my next gig after cricket.
It was fantastic to see the people there preparing for the Olympics, though - the fitness and skill on show was truly remarkable. I wish them all the best for Rio.
We've got a big game to prepare for on Thursday. We know how important it will be to start the series well, but we'll try to treat it no differently to any other, just look to prepare in the same way, with the same intensity.
There's been a lot of talk about external factors in the build up to the Test but we try to take all of that out of the equation. Sure, it's bound to still be there, but in the periphery of our minds.
I have no idea what kind of reception Mohammad Amir will get on his return. Whatever happens, happens. All we know is he is a quality bowler.
At the same time, we have batsmen that are capable of countering his threat. We're in good form and have exceptional skills ourselves.
He has talked about wanting to become number one in the world. It's hard to judge given I haven't properly faced him - other than once or twice in under-15s cricket! He is coming back after a long period of time out of cricket, so I'd imagine he has a long way to go for that.
Look at Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad; both have performed day in, day out, for a number of years and only recently have they reached number one. It's not something that's going to happen overnight for Amir.
We have Gary Ballance back in the squad, and Toby Roland-Jones linking up with us for the first time.
I've played for the Lions before with Toby. He has obviously done really well in county cricket recently and has rightly been rewarded with a call up into the Test squad.
Gary is a class act. Everyone has enjoyed having him back in the squad; we're all behind him, and I'm sure he will score plenty of runs.
He is someone who has scored four hundreds already in 15 Test matches. You don't have those stats and average over 50 with 28 hundreds in first-class cricket, if you're not a proven player.
He also played really well for Yorkshire against Middlesex last week, hitting a hundred, so will come into the game on Thursday with his confidence on a high.
We're back at Lord's for the first Test. I got a hundred there last month against Sri Lanka, and while it's always nice to score runs for the team, to get onto the prestigious Lord's honours board made it particularly special - something I'd always wanted to do.
Hopefully I can get my name back up there again this week, although it's not going to be easy.
Left-arm seam is obviously not something we faced against Sri Lanka and it will play a big role in this series.
There are some things we learned from playing Pakistan the UAE last year in terms of facing some of their bowlers, but it will be completely different conditions here, both overhead and with the pitches, compared to that tour.
Pakistan have got a strong side all the way through. We know it is going to be a tough challenge, but hopefully playing with home advantage can help us.
It served Andy Murray alright this week - you saw how much it meant to him to win Wimbledon again.
It was great too to see England win 3-0 in Australia in the rugby union. Obviously, it's always special to go to Australia and win. The way the guys performed in all three Test matches was brilliant to watch.
There are a lot of rugby fans in the squad that took enjoyment from that - Cookie is a big rugby fan, Broady, too. Everyone kept a keen eye on those games while they were going on.
There's a lot of guys that take a keen interest in football too and watch that religiously, so by contrast, it was obviously disappointing to see England go out earlier than expected in the Euros.
But that's part of sport sometimes - I'm sure the team will move on, bounce back and come back stronger.
Watch the first Investec Test between England and Pakistan from Lord's, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am on Thursday. Or watch from £6.99 with NOW TV, no contract.
