To be honest, it was a surprise for me to get called back to the England squad that Brian Ashton announced on Tuesday — but, then again, a mention in the England squad for me always is. I didn’t know that a squad was due to be announced that day; these days I never look ahead and focus on matters like that.

I am just busy seeing to the process of achieving fitness again, so it came out of nowhere to hear that I was in Brian’s plans.

I hadn’t spoken to Brian in the previous few days. I haven’t actually spoken to him much since I saw him at a couple of England squad days at the end of the summer, but I think he’s been very kind to name me in this squad and I also believe he understands that I’m a work in progress and unlikely to warrant selection for the start of the Six Nations campaign on February 3.

I certainly cannot allow myself to dwell upon that as a possibility, although I am confident that my return to the Newcastle Falcons team is not far away. My rehabilitation is pretty much on track as I’m now at the stage when I’m training with the team in all bar the contact sessions.

I actually feel fine and ready to go, but my kidney injury is a bit of a strange one and the issue here is the amount of precaution required before letting me loose completely. We’re playing Leicester this weekend, then a couple of European games and then Leicester again and Bristol. At best I’d hope to be involved in the European games, although it might be one of the two games thereafter.

Who knows, maybe one day I will get to move that next step up the ladder and play for England again. Brian has certainly picked an exciting squad and one I would love to be involved in. There will no doubt be those who point to the likes of Jason Robinson and Mike Catt — and Richard Hill in the not so distant background — and suggest that age might be a problem, but Steve Black, the conditioning expert at Newcastle, has always told me that athletes don’t hit their peak until between 29 and 35. Although I’m only 27, I don’t think he’s been peddling that as a theory to put a smile on my face.

It may seem strange to say, given all that Jason has achieved, but I believe he still has a large amount of talent that we haven’t yet seen.

Every team has to strike a balance between youth and experience. The experienced players should be the pillars of the team around which the young blood can thrive and perform without having to shoulder all the responsibility. What will be so good for the younger players under Brian is that, if they don’t already know it, they will come to realise very soon that he has real faith in his convictions as to how rugby should be played and, because of that, he will have patience in the process that will see his vision come to fruition.

I can envisage an England squad thriving under the leadership of Phil Vickery, too. Phil has a real aura about him; he is the kind of leader who requires few words but will nevertheless carry people with him. And he is a beacon of hope for me — after all those injuries, he is back where he wants to be. How I would love to follow him.