I’m pretty sure the presence of Aaron Finch in our Twenty20 side puts a little bit of fear into our opposition.

Not only does it give you confidence because he can whack you 90 off 40 balls but when you have the world’s best T20 player in your side the opposition are immediately concentrating on their plans for him.

It can then allow other players to play their own game with the attention elsewhere.

We have now won three in a row in that format and we are on a bit of a roll with the momentum behind us, which is exactly what you need in T20.

Last year there was a lot of expectation on the back of the previous year but we didn’t bring in a high quality overseas player after having David Miller and Mitchell Starc in 2012.

I just think we’re playing smarter cricket and hitting better areas. We’ve also got people who are stepping up now and making themselves a regular position. I’d like to think I’m one of those.

It’s a format that I’ve not really played in until this year. I’ve had to wait my turn but I’m enjoying it. Hopefully I can keep chipping in here and there to put the side into good positions.

In the last few games, different people have chipped in. If we’re going to be a successful team and go far in this competition, people are going to have to keep stepping up when needed.

It was a great win against Northamptonshire on Friday night. We lost two wickets relatively early on in the game, but we managed to get some good partnerships together.

Myself and Jonny Bairstow and then Jonny and Adam Lyth both played superbly at the end. When you get over 180 in a Twenty20 game, if you bowl anything like, it’s going to be hard to chase down.

I believe Geoff Boycott backed me to play for England within two years on Test Match Special on Friday. I don’t know why because I’m not exactly ripping it up at the minute!

It’s obviously nice to hear that, but I know that I’ve got to score runs consistently for Yorkshire and have a good back end to this season, push on and hopefully win some trophies too.

In English cricket at the minute, a few players have gone, and there’s a fresh feel to it. There are opportunities out there.

There were three debutants for the Lord’s Test and you know that if you do the right things and you work hard, you should be afforded an opportunity.

Personally for me, I need to concentrate on backing up my Championship hundred from a couple of weeks ago against Sussex at Arundel, which starts tomorrow.

We’ve lost some players to England now, and I’m going to really try and step up to the mark. Hopefully me and Lythy will keep putting us on the front foot.

It would be great to see the England boys play out of their skin in the Headingley Test later this week.

Rooty’s double hundred was obviously amazing. I’m really pleased for him after the winter the whole team had. There was elation from the rest of the boys for his performance, and hopefully he’ll kick on now.

Just finally, I’ve been picking my football World Cup dream team and looking at all the squads, and I really like the look of the Netherlands. It was a great win for them against Spain on Friday.

I don’t think there will be any real surprises. Brazil will be strong at home in a partizan environment, but I think I’ll go for the Netherlands to win it.