If Anderson is fit, he has to play in quest for 4-1 triumph...
Tuesday 18 August 2015 18:01, UK
It's a huge week for England and a full-on one for me too!
On Wednesday I'm off to central London where David Gower and I will be measured up (separately) for our pale blue Cricket United suits, so no doubt I'll be cutting a dash!
We'll be wearing them at the Oval on Saturday for Cricket United Day, a joint-fundraiser for Lord's Taverners, Chance to Shine and PCA Benevolent Fund.
On Wednesday evening I'll be at the Oval for a Q&A session for Cricket Australia, which should be fun – all deep and meaningful, thanks for coming, that sort of thing!
That same night the ECB is entertaining the broadcasters in the City, which means we'll get a chance to meet the new chief executive and the new chairman. It's very nice, is that.
Then the day after the Daily Mail top brass are taking me out for a curry to recognise my 50 years in cricket (I made my debut in 1965).
I feel like royalty! They know that I like my curry so they're taking me to a posh curry house. I hope the chef's on form and he spices it up!
I've then got a couple of mates coming down from Manchester on Saturday; they want to have a stroll around London, so it could get a bit clumsy!
Profit
Yesterday I went to the racing at Thirsk. I had a blank day up to the last race. Then I noticed that in the last race, for Lady Amateur Riders, there was a horse called Two Turtle Doves.
It's trained by a chap called Michael Mullineaux down Chester way and he'd got his daughter riding it. I thought 'there's no way they're coming all the way up to Thirsk for a ride – they're here to take something home' and I got on it at 6-1. I had a real touch so I came out in profit.
Today I've been @GetFit_MobilePT and I've beaten two previous bests!
At the start of the year I did some work for Maxinutrition; I had to set a personal goal, which was to bench-press 150lb. Well, I got there this morning. I also beat my previous best deadlift - you can watch me in action here.
I celebrated with a meat and vegetable Holland's Pie, cooked from frozen at 200 degrees.
I know Manchester United are playing Club Brugge but the place to be on Tuesday is Stanley at the Wham Stadium – wake me up before you go, go – where we're playing Mansfield.
We got knocked out of the Capital One Cup on penalties by Hull City after playing well. We need a result because we got beat by Morecambe on Saturday for the first time in League Two, so well played them. They've beaten the hoodoo.
Tactical
This Test is all about England pushing on to win 4-1 – that is very much a mental thing. England have won the series – well done – but now they've got to really ram it home. There can be no stepping off; it's about pride in performance. Hopefully we'll get another three-dayer!
It should be a good pitch; it may be a different type of pitch from what we've seen in the series so far. All the talk has been about grass, and pace and bounce; this Oval pitch might spin.
England could play Adil Rashid and have two spinners. What they won't do is go in with four seamers and two spinners; one or two are advocating that on Twitter but it's absolute nonsense.
They'll have two quick bowlers and Ben Stokes as third seamer and two spinners. How they match that up is up to them.
We don't have great depths of quality in the spin department right now – Moeen Ali and Rashid are the two best that we've got. That's it.
But if you want to know who's coming up, here are three to think about: Josh Poysden, at Warwickshire, Hampshire's Mason Crane and Matt Parkinson, from England U19s and Lancashire.
I'm not sure at this stage if James Anderson is fit but for me, if he's 100 per cent fit he plays – it's as simple as that. You don't leave a 400-plus wickets Test bowler out of the team. I know damn well that he'll want to play; he'll be saying 'I'm fine'.
So that would mean that Mark Wood and Steven Finn don't play – that's a simple tactical decision. You can't play more than 11.
Some people are saying drop Adam Lyth and shove Moeen Ali up to open. Don't be silly! You've got to give Lyth every opportunity. He's playing Ashes cricket for the first time and he's just making his way.
I hope the selectors stick with him throughout the upcoming Pakistan tour because I'm backing him to come good – just as Ian Bell did after the 2005 Ashes, where he was a passenger.
In other news, it was good to see Jason Day win his first major because he's been so close previously.
But did you see Bubba Watson hit the ball 400 yards? Blimey. That's further than big Wally Allott!
Oh, by the way I'm back on the motorbike because my car lease has finished. So if you see them taking my car back tomorrow, don't worry, it hasn't been repossessed…
Watch coverage of the fifth Ashes Test live on Sky Sports Ashes HD from Thursday. You can also watch the fifth Test with a NOW TV Sports Day Pass. Plus, our Ashes Events Centre - the best of Sky Cricket's analysis at your fingertips - is available on our iPad app.
