The England tour is upon us and I’m pleased to say that my fitness is getting there after my hamstring injury. I started running two or three days ago, which is a big stride to have made.

There is still a lot of work to be put into the legs but I’m pretty happy with where I am - I’m quite positive. I am still on course for the Middlesex match on July 4 - our second warm-up match and final game before the Lord’s Test (on July 10).

It’s not ideal to be recovering from an injury so close to such a big series but to be honest I needed a rest as I have played a lot of cricket this year and it has given me time to just take a break (from cricket) and spend some time in the gym again building up my fitness. We have a lot of cricket coming up as well so maybe it will work out for the best and give me the breather I needed.

I think it’s going to be a great tour and a great series to watch. Michael Vaughan will be encouraged that England have an advantage on us in terms of the cricket they have been playing, so these two tour matches we have against Somerset and Middlesex before Lord’s are very important to our preparations and planning. Batsmen need to spend time in the middle and our bowlers need to get used to English conditions.

The aspect that encourages me most is that the last time we met England in 2004-05 they had the more settled team but I don’t think that is the case this time.

Freddie Flintoff will give them some selection dilemmas like whether he is fit enough and then if he is do they play four bowlers or five and bat him at six. I’m very interested to see which way they go as it could prove a vital decision. My guess is that Michael Vaughan will want five bowlers.

In terms of our own bowling attack we have selected six fast bowlers in Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini, Morne Morkel, Monde Zondeki, Andre Nel and Jacques Kallis. Dale has had a great time lately and has got to 100 Test wickets in no time but I am pretty grounded about my expectations of him, and Morne also. They have never made a full tour to England so will have to learn quickly.

The fact we have so many fast bowlers is not necessarily an indication that we feel England are susceptible to pace, we are focusing on our own strengths. However, if we can be disciplined with our bowling like we have been in recent times and put the England batsmen under pressure we might then see if they have a soft spot. Kevin Pietersen is a key batter for England and I believe it's important we expose him early so bowling at their top order, numbers one to three, is going to be vital. If we can break through their top order early it will allow us to attack KP. I’m sure there will be some interesting battles.

These are the kinds of things we are thinking but we are under no illusions that this is going to be a tough series. England have been very competitive and difficult to beat at home for a number of years so it will be a great challenge.

I’m looking forward to the personal challenges also. Some felt Matthew Hoggard had the better of me last time but these things happen in Test cricket. I will have had the better of some other bowlers in series and vice versa. That’s Test cricket for you but one thing is for certain and that is I always need challenges like that to bring the best out in me, so bring it on.