Quotes About Cricket

The biggest challenge I faced when I started playing in the 90s was my immediate family members were not very keen that I get into sport, leave alone cricket.

If I am trying to set up someone then I might go up to the keeper and say that I might bowl down the leg side. That's where you feel that if the 'keeper has a longer stint, he will read you better.

I usually don't get much free time. Cricket keeps me busy, and I like it that way.

Cricket the world over, I don't think, will ever know how different things would be without Kerry Packer.

For Leicestershire, through the age groups, I didn't bowl at all. My height was below average for my age up until 17 when I had a big growth spurt. My bowling kicked on from there because I could get bounce from a fuller length and shape the ball away.

Throughout my career, in cricket and beyond, I've been incredibly lucky with my marriage. I met Rachael in 2002, and that was the year my England career kicked on. Everything started to click.

It's quite strange, because off the field I'm quite shy, quiet, prefer to watch a bit of TV at home, but get me on the cricket field I like it all kicking off.

I used to come to school with my school bag hanging on one shoulder and the cricket kit on the other. It was pretty cool and I felt special.

It's all you hear on a cricket field - 'Knock his head off, knock his head off.' Cricket has gone too far. It shouldn't be posturing, abusing.

In an ideal world, you knock the runs off and win the game.

It is a knowledgeable crowd at Old Trafford and they will also tell you when you are not bowling well.

Whatever knuckle ball I have bowled, I wanted batsmen to go after that. That way, you can get wickets, and that's one of the main reasons why I have been successful in power plays.

I cannot for the life of me see why the umpires, the only two people on a cricket field who are not going to get grass stains on their knees, are the only two people allowed to wear dark trousers.

Poetry is more valuable than cricket, but Bradman would be a fool if he sacrificed his cricket in order to write second-rate minor poetry (and I suppose that it is unlikely that he could do better).

It is going to be difficult for the West Indies to get back to the top, but we got to start somewhere, and if playing young players is the way we have decided to go, these young players must be given the chance to mature and develop and not be discarded at an early age.

When I was younger I cared more about the position I batted.

The victory in the 1992 World Cup changed Pakistan cricket. A number of cricketers from that side turned out to be role models and inspiration for the younger generation.

With young kids watching and hearing the news, we have to be on our best behaviour. I think it's really important that we inspire the younger generation to take up the game. It could turn them away. That's not what we want.

Ajwa and Asmara are the youngest and love to play dress-up. They have my permission to play any sport, as long as they're indoors. Cricket? No, not for my girls.

Cricket is great for families, so long as you don't play by the proper rules and adapt it so the youngest can be helped to stay doing the exciting stuff.

I was the youngest child and the only son. I was expected to shine in academics. It seemed like too big a risk to take up cricket as a career. I thought I had to live up to my family's expectations. So I chose to be an engineer.

Growing up, in my under-15 days I used to be a wicketkeeper, and that carried on till I was 17. Then I started focusing on my batting and moved on. I got into the Ranji team quite early, and generally, as a youngster, the first place you are put in is at bat-pad and short leg, so you had to work on your close-in fielding straightaway.

Lord's is a special place. I used to love watching games there as a youngster and I've been fortunate enough to play a couple of games there.

There is no point playing in the IPL when I have retired from international cricket. I did not want a youngster to miss out because of me.