It's something of a shock to the system to be pulling the whites on this week and playing a game that lasts for four days rather than three hours.

The past three weeks have disappeared in a whirl of Twenty20 cricket and now that I'm back playing for Yorkshire against Durham in the County Championship, there are a few things I'll have to get used to again. Such as the prospect of bowling a ball outside off stump and watching a batsman leave it alone. You get booed in Twenty20 for batting like that. And I may have to bowl more than four overs in a game, maybe even in my first spell. Whatever next?

I've enjoyed the Twenty20 Cup this year, especially as we've reached the quarter-finals. It wasn't a format that I was too keen on at first, watching my bad balls take wickets and my good balls get hit for six. But as long as you take it with a pinch of salt and realise that you're going to come a cropper on occasions, there's a lot of fun to be had.

And at the moment, with all the money that is flooding into Twenty20 cricket, any professional player with a family to support would want to be involved. My overriding priority is to win back my England place and secure another central contract, but if that doesn't happen, I'd be silly not to want to put myself in the shop window for the Indian Premier League and other such exciting competitions.

As an opening bowler, you have to be right on the mark from the first ball in Twenty20, there's no such thing as a loosener. Batsmen also move around the crease a lot more while you're bowling. Sometimes they'll charge you, other times they'll step across or back away, so you have to keep an eye on the batsman as you're coming in to bowl. It's a battle of wits and the key is to try to pre-empt what the batsman is going to do. You need to have plenty of slower balls and other variations up your sleeve and, ideally, you shouldn't bowl the same ball twice in a row.

Even then, sometimes you're just going to get whacked. When we played against Durham, I bowled a perfectly respectable ball to Phil Mustard, about four inches outside off stump and a decent length. The Colonel stepped outside his off stump and swung me over fine leg for six. All I could do was laugh. And, as I walked back to my mark, Darren Gough was creasing up with laughter at mid-off as well. At least I knew I had the captain on my side.

One of the beauties of Twenty20 cricket is its potential for allowing raw talent to flourish. We always speak highly of players such as Brian Lara or Muttiah Muralitharan, who have apparently been born with a bat or ball in their hands and have not been spoilt by fuddy-duddy coaches. You won't get far without reasonable technique in any form of cricket, but maybe Twenty20 will mean that we're more inclined in this country to forget about the MCC coaching manual and let players go with the flow.

There was one real disappointment for me during the Twenty20 Cup, when a proud record of mine was wiped from the books. Until Graham Napier went berserk with the bat for Essex against Sussex last week, I had the distinction of holding the record for the most expensive analysis in the competition. (If you must know, I was belted for 65 from four overs by Lancashire three years ago. I did take two wickets, mind you, I was merely buying them.) Last week James Kirtley pinched my record when he went for 67, so I hope he enjoys his place in the record books as much as I have.

Now that we're back in the County Championship, Durham have turned up at Headingley with Paul Collingwood in their side. It was nice to see him again, but I did have to inquire as to whether he should really be playing while he's been banned from appearing for England. And when he bats, I'm wondering whether to shoulder barge him to the ground when he goes for a quick single, then ask him whether we should run him out or not. I'm sure Colly will see the funny side.

The arrival of South Africa this week to play England brings back happy memories of our last series meeting with them, our 2-1 victory over there in 2004-05. I took a few wickets on that trip and that series win was a huge boost to our development as a team.

I'm still hoping that I'll have a part to play this time around, but selection is something that's out of my hands. I've just got to keep taking wickets and make sure that, if and when the call comes, I'm ready to do my bit.