THERE was never a single defining moment when I decided that it was right for me to leave Worcestershire — it came over a period of time.

To leave at the end of the season is going to be very difficult, I have had eight tremendous years at New Road and I have made some great friends over my time here.

But I suppose I had to be a little selfish when I realised that I wasn’t getting the best out of myself at Worcestershire.

This was one of the hardest decisions of my life. This is a brilliant club and I’ve loved my time here, but sometimes you have to be able to look back on your life and know that you have done the best that you can.

When I left Surrey to come here, I always thought that at some point I would return. When I came to New Road, Worcestershire and Tom Moody gave me my chance to play regularly and I will always be grateful for that.

But I believe this is also a great opportunity for me. I spoke to a few clubs, obviously Surrey and many of you will have read that I spoke to Ashley Giles at Warwickshire too.

However, I think that it was always going to be Surrey. The chance to work with Ian Salisbury and Saqlain Mushtaq was a big pull for me.

To play on a Test match wicket as well, because if I have any aspirations to play Test cricket for England again, which I do, then I have to be able to produce the goods on that type of pitch.

I don’t know what the future holds for me for my remaining time at Worcestershire. I have been playing in the Pro40 and I want to try and help us win the title again before I go.

We are perfectly placed after our last two games and it might just go down to the last game of the season like it did in 2007 — we have to be prepared for that.

The game at Nottinghamshire Outlaws was one of, if not the best run-chases I have seen for Worcestershire.

Obviously Alex Hales’ innings was special and set the tone and I suppose if I was him I would be wondering how I was on the losing side — how often do you score 150 not out and lose?

But Vikram Solanki got things going for us with 27 off the first four overs before Steve Davies went on to dominate the strike.

Stephen Moore’s knock was another special one and he anchored everything very well. He found the boundary when the shot was there and tied things up when he needed too.

That allowed Davo, Moeen Ali and Ben Smith to play their shots and secure what was a very impressive win.

I’m not sure whether I will play anymore games in the Championship — that is not my decision. Now is the time to be blooding young players and in the last game against Nottinghamshire they did very well and for virtually the whole game they dominated a team that are second in the table.

If I don’t play at Warwickshire tomorrow, and I presume that I won’t be, then I’ll be practising and working hard with fitness coach Dave Lowe to make sure that I’m ready for that final push in the Pro40.