Jos Buttler is thriving in the autumn of his career.
The former England white-ball captain has had a fantastic year with the bat since relinquishing the armband at international level.
Jos is back to his big-hitting best and, with the T20 World Cup on the horizon, he is energised by the prospect of getting his hands on the trophy he led England to in 2022.
The 4CAST star's ability to self-reflect has held him in good stead through the setbacks - not least the 50-over World Cup two years ago - and he sees that as part and parcel of any professional sports person's career.
"Learning and growth is so important," he said.
"You're always evaluating: can you get better? Are there things that you could change? What did I do well? What can I improve on? I think that's the thing you like the most actually and that's what keeps you going and keeps you coming back."
"That self-reflection, at times, it's just sitting and it's just time and it's like, you know, you might be driving in the car and a thought comes to you or it might be you’re out for a walk or something or you’re doing mundane jobs around the house and you are reflecting.
"Like, ‘okay, if I had my time again in that situation, would I have done something differently? Or could I have?’ and at times you actually go, do you know what I would do the same thing again.
"Even though we didn't get the right result at the time, with the information I was given and the sort of themes that I had at play, I think I would make the same call, but it just didn't work out.
"I think that's the other thing you have to acknowledge in sport, there's some things that just don't make sense you know? Sometimes in cricket you drop a catch for no reason or you know you’re millimetres away from nicking one to the keeper or not.
"So there's certainly that time you need to be sort of really logical as well, to go ‘what are the things that I actually know I didn't get right and I need to improve on?’ And what are the other things that are just a part of life’s rich tapestry and that’s just the way it is?"
Jos will be as engrossed by the Ashes series as the rest of us, and when that's done and dusted he'll be hoping to get his hands on the trophy he famously won in Australia in 2022 - the T20 World Cup.
"I want to win something again, especially with England in another World Cup. To experience that winning dressing room again would be special," he said.
"I’ll never forget what it was like lifting that trophy in 2022 with your team all around you. That probably got tainted by the next few years. But when we won the [50-over] World Cup in 2019 it was never tainted. It would be good to have that feeling again."
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