I'M gutted and disappointed to have had to fly home from England's tour of Bangladesh. I dived on the boundary during the first one-day international and I felt a tweak in my quad. 

I felt it again when I dived a little bit later on in the innings, but I carried on bowling and it didn't seem too bad, I could still move around. 

But the next day it was really stiff and seized up and I knew then that I had a problem. 
At that point I had a scan on it and the tear in the muscle showed up, which is very frustrating. I have not had much luck with injuries over the past 18 months or so and other guys have come into the side in my absence and done well. 

I was hoping to use the Test series to try to re-establish myself in the longer form of the game because I know I'm still very capable of being effective at international level. 
I felt I was starting to do that in South Africa and I was happy with how I was bowling in Dubai and once we got to Bangladesh. 

But that's cricket for you. You can get injured doing something which looks fairly innocuous.  But it could have been a lot worse and I'm still fit and healthy other than that and I'll be able to keep it that way during my stint of rehab.   I'm looking at being out for three weeks at the most, so hopefully I will be back bowling in two weeks. 
There is some important cricket coming up so it's better to take time out in the short term and make sure I'm ready for the summer to come. 

My immediate aim is to get right for the ICC World Twenty20 in May in the West Indies.  You have to look for the positives in situations like this and it will give me the chance to spend some time with the family and see the Notts boys at Trent Bridge. 

I'm not the only one who has been affected. There are one or two niggles around the camp, including my Notts team-mate Stuart Broad with his back.  I think Broady has done well not to be injured before now because he has had a heavy workload and he has bowled a lot of overs. 

It catches up with everyone at some point. Hopefully for him, it will be a niggle and nothing more.  The schedule at the moment is unforgiving, with the games coming thick and fast as well as the practice in between. 

The days are gone where you can have two or three days' rest at a time. 
It means that players now are often playing through the pain barrier and it's inevitable that from time to time they are going to encounter injury problems.  Both Broady and I are desperate to do well for England and, with a bit of luck, we'll both be back in the frame before too long. 

xxxxx 

A FEW of the lads have looked like they had Chicken Pox since they arrived in Bangladesh.   As soon as we got in the airport on arrival there were hundreds of mosquitoes that seemed to take a liking to us. 
A couple of the players have been bitten on the ear and face and it has caused plenty of amusement in the camp.  I'd love to tell you who has been bitten the most, but I think we've all had our fair share! 

It doesn't help if one or two of them slip into your tracksuit or trousers and then your legs get it as well.   Thankfully, you can always rely on 'electric tennis racquets' to get you through it. 

We saw people at the airport trying to get rid of them using this machine, which gives them an electric shock and kills them.  We have got a few of the 'racquets' to share around and I have seen a few of the lads practicing their backhands.   Looking at their techniques, though, I don't think Andy Murray need worry! 

xxxxx 

WHILE I was out in Bangladesh, the England team have taken time out to take part in a couple of very worthwhile projects.   We went to a school that is working on partnership with the ECB and the World Food Programme.  A lot of children don't really go to school in the country - they can't because  they have to stay at home and work or look after their younger brothers and sisters. 

What the scheme is designed to do is to give the kids good quality meals every day, so they have the energy to go to school.  It's a fantastic programme and it was great to see them out in the school yard running around. 

They all had smiles on their faces and, naturally, we had a game of cricket because they love it there.  Sportsmen sometimes get bad press, but it was nice for us to be involved in something as positive as that.  The guys were all very much up for it because it is another thing that made us realise how lucky we are.