An email conversation with Ashley Giles: 'The dressing-room music is a mixture: from Led Zeppelin to Eminem, with even a bit of Phil Collins...'

Firstly, how's the hip? You will be ready for the Ashes, won't you? I will. The hip is fine; it's coming along really well, we're in the latter stages of rehabilitation and I'm looking forward to the Ashes.

You are currently in India with the England squad during the Champions Trophy. What's the plan for you? Lots of physio, build up the intensity of bowling and get back into cricket fitness. So there will be lots of nets, lots of catching and lots of batting. I won't be playing any matches though.

How impressed have you been with the way Monty Panesar has taken to Test cricket? I've been very impressed. Monty has been good for the team and has picked up wickets. He's come in and done really well and increased the depth in English cricket, which has got to be good.

You must be disappointed to miss a tournament in India, which is famously a spinner's paradise. It's disappointing to miss any cricket and I've missed almost a year's worth now, so this tournament is another step in getting back to proper fitness. If I can use this tour of India as part of my rehab and not play, then so be it, with the Ashes coming up as the most important series of our lives.

The Champions Trophy has been much maligned down the years. How much importance do the players attach to it? Any tournament where you can pit yourself against the best players in the world is important. With other tournaments coming up you might be playing guys - like we're playing Australia next week - that you'll be playing against in a big series shortly after, so it's good to get one over them if possible.

Why have England been getting it so wrong in one-day cricket compared to Test cricket of late? I don't think we've been getting it that wrong. We need to get individuals fit and get those key players back in their key roles, and I think if we can do that we'll be a force to be reckoned with and I don't think we'll be that far away in the World Cup.

How will Andrew Flintoff cope with his many responsibilities regarding batting, bowling and the captaincy during the Ashes series? 'Freddie' has got very broad shoulders so while it's a big task ahead of him and a lot to ask, I'm sure he'll manage it. It's important that the other players in the side support him and that the senior players help him along because we know the Australians are usually after the head of an outfit. As our best player and our captain it's going to be a tough role for him, but we have to take some of that burden away.

Have you worked out new plans for Australia's batsmen, or will you stick to the ones that you used last summer? We had solid plans against the Aussie batters last summer and this period in India is a chance to look over footage of the Australian batsmen, particularly to spinners, and see where they have got out to the left-arm spinners in world cricket. It's a chance to re-analyse and top up the memory banks of where to bowl to these guys, for example.

Is it true you choose the music that is set to the England players' motivational pre-Test videos? If so, what do you choose for which players and is it always the same? No, it's not true. I've generally been head of music because I carry around my laptop and everyone takes the music off it. As for the motivational material, I think everyone has a bit of a say as to what we play. I think we've had a bit of Eminem when going out to bat during the past couple of years, which I have to say is not really my taste. I think we've changed it to a track by The Killers recently.

Who chooses the music for the dressing-room and what do they put on? It's mainly my music, but Paul Collingwood is in charge of bringing his speakers and iPod along to the dressing-room. In the modern world we live in everyone has an iPod that they travel with, so they tend to swap them around and take turns to play music. It's generally a mix between anything from Eminem to Led Zeppelin, Guns 'n' Roses and even Phil Collins - it's a wide range.

Is wrist spin sexier than finger spin? I don't think so. I think Shane Warne has been a sexy bowler for years but with players like Monty coming into the picture it's been great for the game and it has got a lot more youngsters interested in spin in this country. I hope that there are people out there that find us left-arm finger-spinners sexy.

Which of the 140 Test wickets that you have taken would you highlight as your best piece of bowling? Brian Lara would be my favourite dismissal, and it was my 100th Test wicket. He came down the wicket and I beat him with flight before sliding it through the gate and knocking middle stump out, so it was almost a perfect delivery for me. To get one of the world's best players out that way was brilliant. There were also a lot of other things happening around that match; it was at Lord's [in 2004] and it was a rough time for me, so to take my 100th Test wicket in that way was fantastic.

Who is the batsman you least like to see down the other end as you run up to bowl? I've never enjoyed bowling at Sachin Tendulkar. You just feel like he's lining you up a lot of the time. He's just world class, a superb player.

Would you describe the Australians as gracious losers? I think they are quite gracious. They set the tone last year to come into our dressing-room and have a drink with us and I think it's important, however the series goes, that we do the same thing. We want to play the series hard but in the right spirit.

How close were you to quitting international cricket when you were at a low point prior to your famous chat with England psychologist Steve Bull in 2004? I guess I was quite close, because if you even consider it then it's clearly present in your mind. But I never got to the point of wanting to retire, I've never considered myself a quitter and even though it was a particularly rough time I came out the other side. I never actually had to get to that point, so we'll never really know how close I was.

What non-cricket sporting event would you most like to attend? I'd have loved to have been at this year's Ryder Cup for the three days. I enjoy my golf and the team spirit the Europeans showed was something like we have in the England dressing-room. It was great to see.

You like cars. Can you put an engine together? I love my cars but I have no idea how to put an engine together - I just get in and drive it!

You have a large art collection. If you had unlimited cash which single piece would you buy to hang on your living room wall? I would buy The Scream by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. I think it's a lovely painting and testament to that is the number of times it's been stolen.

More and more dissent towards umpires has crept into cricket over the past few years. Is the game heading the same way as football? I do hope not. I think there's a lot of respect between players and umpires and players and players in cricket and I think it should stay that way. It's a game we need to look after for the future.

What annoys you about Premiership footballers? I say good luck to them. They get paid a lot of money but it's about supply and demand - if people are going to pay those amounts then the players are going to get paid. Some of their attitudes towards referees annoy me a little bit sometimes and there are a few poor role models in football.

Are you a Blue or a Villan? Neither - I'm a QPR fan. They used to play football a while ago.

The nickname "King of Spain" was born when an error was made on your Warwickshire testimonial mugs. Does it amuse or annoy you, and what other nicknames have you got? The "King of Spain" thing wasn't actually a testimonial mug; it was the result of two misprints from the printers. It was meant to say "King of Spin" but two came back with "King of Spain" and they were the two originals for the Edgbaston club shop. It doesn't annoy me at all, and I think it's quite funny. Generally people call me Gilo.

How many "King of Spain" mugs are in existence? There's only one of the originals left. There were two and one was given to me and because I didn't think anything of it I used it as my coffee cup in the dressing-room and it got pinched. The other original is in the club shop in a glass case.

Ideal holiday - culture vulture, beach bum or adrenalin junkie? I'm a bit of a culture vulture. I don't enjoy sitting on the beach for hours, I'm not a big tanning guy. I'm also not a big one for jumping off mountains either. I like to wander around and look at different things.

When your career comes to an end, will you be appearing in Strictly Come Dancing like Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash? I would never say never. I've been known to be a bit of a twinkle-toes in the dressing-room, a bit of a mover on the dance floor. So yeah, why not!

Do you ever get mistaken for your fellow England cricketer Marcus Trescothick? I used to get mistaken for Marcus a lot but Marcus has grown his hair and put in a few tints and things and I've lost a lot of weight, so we don't really match up any more.

Which was the bigger occasion: the final, Ashes-winning day at The Oval last summer or the day when you received your MBE? The gongs like the MBEs are nice but winning the Ashes is what it's all about. Everything else comes from having that success with the team and the guys in the dressing-room. There's no better feeling.

What will the Ashes score be? I think there will be a lot of results. I think it will be an England win.