Paul Collingwood will play his 30th consecutive Test against New Zealand at Lord's this week hoping to avert shoulder surgery as long as possible.
Few international cricketers have made as much of their ability as Collingwood, 31, and he does not want to give up his England place lightly.
The one-day captain had a third and final cortisone injection in a torn muscle in his right shoulder last Friday night.
Having undergone jabs prior to the Test series in Sri Lanka and the two-month tour of New Zealand, successful day-to-day rehabilitation is now the only way to avoid an operation.
And Collingwood, who set out on his sequence of caps when deputising for Andrew Strauss in Lahore in December 2005, has revealed the pride that motivates him to continue adding to his impressive streak.
"Of course to play the next 30 games (from Lahore onwards) is a massive achievement, and hopefully now I'm a better player than I ever have been," he said.
"I still scrap around for runs and I will always be that kind of player.
"But it is very hard to buy experience and to have that number of games under my belt, and with the one-dayers added in, has been a massive challenge and something I want to continue.
"The last resort is to go down the route of saying it is too sore to carry on."
If it gets to that, Collingwood would be sidelined for between three and six months, meaning he would miss a sizeable chunk of England's commitments this year.
The problem flared up again for Collingwood - whose medium pace supplements the four-man attack - in early-season outings with Durham.
"I guess it's the stress you put the shoulder under and we have played a fair bit of cricket since the time I did it in Sri Lanka," he said.
"This is the last injection I can have in this particular area, so hopefully I can keep it strong and manage it from now on.
"After the last couple of cortisones I have had, a few days later I have come in to bowl at 100%.
"So I have got no worries about doing that on Thursday as well."
With Andrew Flintoff dined to return from injury for the npower series against South Africa, Collingwood might also face an uphill struggle to return to the Test team if he opts for surgery.
"I know this cortisone will work for the next two months at least, and hopefully I can manage it, keep it strong and limit it to as little pain as possible," said Collingwood.
"There are never any gaps, so how do you have three to six months off?
"Until the day comes when I think it is affecting me on the field and affecting my performance I am not going to worry about it.
"Surgery is the last thing I want because you miss so much cricket and you never know how you're going to respond to it."
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