"The atmosphere really has been unbelievable and there are not many teams you’d play in where people enjoy each other’s success as much as this one."
Wednesday 24 January 2018 10:46, UK
In his latest Sky Sports column, England fast bowler Liam Plunkett provides an update on his injury as well as reflecting on England’s ODI series win, where he plans to watch the Super Bowl and ‘terrible’ Aussie internet…
Since getting injured in Sydney, I've been on the ice machine non-stop for the last 48 hours. It's only been a couple of days but I've been on the bike today, recovering already and now I'm just taking it day by day.
It's a little bit sore but hopefully it won't be too long. I'll probably miss this weekend but the plan is to be back for the T20s.
It's a quick turnaround so hopefully we'll get it looked at quickly and I'll be running soon. As soon as you do something and it is pain-free, it is on to the next thing. There was no pain on the bike today so we'll look at it tomorrow, go onto the next thing and reassess.
I've played a lot of cricket and it's just a minor injury, so we need to get that right and then I'll be back.
Injury aside, it's great to have won the one-day series! I remember ahead of this ODI series people were talking about a hangover from the Ashes and whether it was going to bother us but I just felt that we're in such a good space and we play such good cricket that, with the bunch of guys we have, it wouldn't affect us.
We've shown that from the get-go, really, with Jason Roy getting that massive score at the MCG, winning in Brisbane and then in the last game, we didn't look like we would get anywhere near 300 but the way the guys batted at the end was unbelievable.
That just shows you when we get put in tough positions, we can still come through. Then obviously me going down after one and a half overs and the way Morgs managed the bowlers, to get through that and win the game was unbelievable. That is one of the best games we've played and the way Morgs went about it was top drawer.
He has been brilliant as captain: he's calm, experienced and he backs his players. As a bowler, you are always looking for that attacking option, that wicket-taking option, and that's how we play. We're always looking to score runs, we're not looking to survive, and we're looking to get wickets.
He uses the phrase a lot 'go out there and show off, do what you do' - that's what you play for, you want to win games and you want to show the world what you've got as a team. I think every player out there believes they can win a game for England and if you've got 11 people doing that then that's an amazing thing.
Jos Buttler was fantastic in Sydney, too - he is so difficult to bowl at. He's had the Buttler scoop for a while, that's from a few years back, and there are a lot of people doing that but the way he plays 360 degrees, he's not just nudging it over the line, he's hitting it into the stand!
He's so talented and when he goes, he is hard to stop. He's shown how good a batsman he is, he battled through a tough time to start with when the pressure was on, built that partnership then he took the leash off and when he goes, he goes big.
You don't see many people batting at the end who are better than him. Watching him live, which I've had the pleasure of doing over the last few years, when he's got hundreds or big scores, it is as impressive as you'll see.
On a personal note, I got my 100th ODI wicket in Brisbane and I put a tweet out saying that if someone had said to me five years ago that I'd have got to 100 wickets, I'd have snapped their hand off.
It is a massive achievement and hopefully the next one will be 150. It's been a good year and obviously I want to repeat that. I feel like I've been more consistent for the last couple of years, whereas back in the day maybe that wasn't the case.
I was in and out, but the performances of this team have been more consistent and they've backed me to the hilt which has helped me get the wickets.
There are still two games left in the series and it's a cliché saying we look at it game by game but if we'd been thinking about winning 5-0 a couple of games back then you can forget to concentrate on the next ball and who knows what might have happened?
Obviously we want a 5-0 win but we'll approach this next game the same way. We're the type of team that'll never be 170-7, we'll either be up towards 400 or we'll be 100 all out - that's down to our positive cricket and it is why we've been so successful.
We'll be looking to go out there and perform, get a big total - it is going to be exciting and I'd back us to win again.
The atmosphere really has been unbelievable and there are not many teams you'd play in where people enjoy each other's success as much as this one.
The lads get on really well with each other, I remember out in the Caribbean last year, there were no team meals but every other night the guys were out eating together as a team. That is very rare and it is good to be a part of this.
I spoke about supporting the Philadelphia Eagles in my last column and since then they have reached the Super Bowl!
A few weeks back I took on Richard Graves in the NFL predictions, I know him quite well and I think I took him down! I gave my predictions and people kept telling me that the Eagles would never get through but they've kept on chipping away, my missus is back in Philly and the city is going crazy!
It's a passionate place for sport and it is unbelievable. I've been going back there for 11 years now and it is the first time for a while that they've been involved in the Super Bowl.
I'm not sure exactly where we are for the Super Bowl but I know a lot of the cinemas out here play it so I'll pop down to a cinema and watch it.
Apart from the injury, I'm having a great time but I did manage to rile a few people up with a tweet about how bad the internet is out here! Although, even a lot of the Aussies have admitted it!
The internet just seems to be slow when I'm trying to FaceTime or watch Netflix, it's terrible! That tweet got quite a few bites so I had to clarify that I don't dislike the country - I love the country - but the internet has been terrible!
Maybe I should have been more specific but all the boys have been struggling to FaceTime and stuff, but what do I know?
Liam Plunkett will be blogging for Sky Sports throughout the ODI series.
