My first reaction when I heard the girls were being blamed for our loss was anger. Everyone's looking for an excuse as to why we haven't retained the Ashes, but the reason we didn't play well was because we weren't good enough on the day.
All this stuff about the wives and girlfriends being a distraction is nonsense. I'm still amazed that in 2015 the girls are blamed if the men don't perform. We're professional sportsmen, that's what we're paid to do. When performances don't go well it's the fault of the individual. 
Where were all the critics when the girls travelled with us during the World Cup? The argument that the boys don't play well when the girls travel doesn't stack up.
If anything, the girls are a help rather than a hindrance. They are there to support us and do everything possible to help us play well, and we need them there because of the amount of time we spend away.
A big part of life as an international cricketer is great, but like all jobs there are negatives as well and for us it's the travelling. Some players are away for 250-plus days a year and that's bound to have a strain on our loved ones.
You wouldn't have a relationship with your partner if they weren't able to travel. What's the point of being with someone if you're not going to live with them and spend time with them?
Cricket can be a very lonely game when you're training hard and not getting the results - that's professional sport, it can be very hard and frustrating. But having the girls there adds stability to our lives, especially when we are away as much as we are.
You can walk off the field, do what you need to do to recover, then go home and take your mind off what's happened that day so you're not in your room or lying in bed thinking about a half-volley you bowled or how you put down a catch. I know with Cherie, we didn't talk about the day's play. It was good to have that distraction.
I know there will be punters out there who are thinking, "but what about when you had a blue with your missus?" But it's no different to someone having a fight with their partner before they leave home for work. I can guarantee you it never affected my training or performance.
During my time I really felt for the guys with kids, such as Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson and our former batting coach Justin Langer. Kids need to see their fathers and the fathers need to see their kids. I've seen how much my teammates missed their children, it really hurt them.
I'd love for Joe Public to spend a year with the Australian cricket team when the schedule is the way it is and see how they go without their kids and families with them.
If families were not able to travel like they do, players wouldn't be able to play for as long as they do, simple as that.
I was really disappointed the criticism came from an ex-player, who has been in our position before.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but the ex-players soon forget how hard touring is. There are guys who have been home a week. Others can go months at a time without sleeping in their own bed. The public don't realise that, but ex-players should.
With the Ashes decided, it's only natural to look back and see how we could have done things better. Pat Howard has blamed himself for me not getting to the Ashes, but I stand by everything we did. We all agreed to it - the medical staff, the captain, coach - the plan was to get to England.
Everything was going to plan until that day in Kent when it fell apart. But I was the fittest I'd been... for a long, long time ...
I've got no regrets at all.
Twitter - @r_harris413