Quote … unquote
“If one-day cricket was pyjama cricket, then Twenty20 is underwear cricket.” Navjot Sidhu waxes eloquent, but he doesn’t stop there…
“This cricket is like a burger, you can have it once a week but for a whole meal, you need to return to Test cricket. More than once a week, and it will give you a tummy ache”
Underwear or burgers? Sidhu strives to capture the essence of Twenty20.
“In the circumstances, I felt I should oblige. She was a lovely mature lady, and quite ample. In fact, Muttiah Muralitharan would have had plenty of room to sign his name.”
David “Bumble” Lloyd was rather taken aback when a former Sussex Ladies cricketer asked him to sign her cleavage with a felt-tip pen. Apparently, if he agreed, she stood to earn £200 for charity
“I’m surprised, I’m disappointed, I’m shocked.”
Dinanath Ramnarine could have used plenty more words to describe his feelings after Dwayne Bravo missed out on a retainer contract, but he decided to stick to a manageable three
“That rules Nasser Hussain out. He never travels with any cash, he’s like the Gueen.”
Mike Atherton suggests that Nasser Hussain isn’t the best man to go to for some loose change, as he announces cash-only prices for the final day at Lord’s
“Being on 99 has the habit of turning sane men into idiots. I said “Sorry mate” and told him I was an idiot”
Andrew Strauss on his poor call which resulted in Ian Bell’s run out
“You could say that Bell was unlucky to be run out by a direct hit from Inzamam, which is cricket’s equivalent to being killed by a falling meteor while out walking the dog on Dartmoor.”
Martin Johnson on Ian Bell’s bad luck to be run-out by a swift-footed Inzamam in the second innings at Lord’s
“I’ll take an ugly hundred over a pretty 10 any day.”
Atta boy Alastair Cook for being honest after surviving umpteen dropped chances and one that was not given during his first century at Lord’s
“It’s not easy to sight the ball here. It’s a great atmosphere at Lord’s but also one that tenses up players. Several of our team had not played here before.”
Waqar Younis offers explanation for Pakistan’s shambolic catching on the first day of the Lord’s Test
“Whoever comes in and wears No.9 for Newcastle next year, he’s not Alan Shearer. It’s the same with Troy. He’s not irreplaceable, but he’s had such a strong bond with the bowlers for five years, it’ll take Shiny a little bit of time to get everybody together.”
That’s what’s known as damning with faint praise. Steve Harmison is less than effusive about the impact of England’s new bowling coach, Kevin Shine
“A few years ago, I was chatting up a girl in a lift and she was not having any of it. She thought I was too tall and geeky and all that and I needed a wing-man. In walked Shane Warne and he was the best wing-man.”
Coldplay front man and international heart-throb Chris Martin shows his gratitude to the original player
“One bright spot of this recuperation process is that I think I may have conquered my fear of diving.”
Matthew Hoggard reveals the benefits of spending time in an oxygen chamber
“When Malcolm Speed next visits one of our Test grounds he should be made to queue like everyone else for his over-priced warm pint of beer in its plastic glass, forced to carry it up flights of stairs and then find his seat in the middle of a row. He may then realise that not everyone can drink Chablis in a crystal glass in a hospitality box.”
Former UK sports minister Kate Hoey slams the ICC’s rules on taking alcohol into cricket grounds
“Matthew Hoggard has been living in an oxygen chamber since injuring his hand, so his mobile signal has been off and I haven’t been able to catch up with him yet.”
Paul Collingwood has the inside information on his England team-mate
“I’m not bothered about ratings or rankings from ICC. I don’t even look at that.”
Rahul Dravid delivers the good news to the ICC
“Just before the World Cup I work harder than I ever did. I lose a lot of weight - 17 kilograms! Can you believe it? It was too much. I didn’t score any runs without those 17 kilograms.”
Inzamam-ul-Haq reveals the secret behind his miserable performance in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa
“They used to say that the [South Africa] players would walk off the Table Mountain for Cronje. Well, Inzamam has the same effect on this team.”
Bob Woolmer praises Inzamam-ul-Haq’s leadership and the respect he gets from his team-mates
“We had a bit of a disaster.”
Oh, you think? Lancashire captain Mark Chilton’s frankness - after his farcical call for a single triggered a manic collapse (six wickets for 13, anyone?) against Yorkshire - is endearing, really
“I like Essex. There are some nice restaurants, great nightlife and a couple of good golf courses. That’s all I need to keep me happy.”
Simple pleasures: Darren Gough reveals he’s not the culture-vulture we had suspected
“He’s a fat bloke that can spin a ball a bit.”
How quickly fame fades … a caller to BBC Five talking about Shane Warne
“I’d only be available for an Australian team, but I don’t think I’d get chosen, mate.”
Australia’s prime minister John Howard rules out doing an Andrew Johns and playing Twenty20
“My family got to see the brighter side of life after I started earning. Before that, we had nothing.”
Munaf Patel looks back at his early years of struggle with pride
“I wasn’t really surprised to be very honest with you. Once our last-wicket partnership went on for about an hour or so, I knew that he’d probably bat again.”
Rahul Dravid comes to Brian Lara’s rescue after West Indies decided against enforcing the follow-on in St. Kitts
“You’re fair game. If the game’s for points then it’s hell for leather isn’t it? If he is happy to play he has to be happy to take the heat.”
Fast bowler Shaun Tait with a blunt message to Andrew Johns, the rugby league star who will play Twenty20 matches for New South Wales next season in a part publicity/part charity stunt
“I can’t bowl real well, I can’t bat and I can’t field … It’s a big class rise but fingers crossed, I don’t get a bat and just get a bit of a field.”
*** Andrew Johns** comes clean about his skills*
“Ehsan [Mani] is a very hands-on president. I’m a hands-off president. I like to be in control too, but I don’t think, of necessity, it’s a president’s job to do the work. That’s why you have a chief executive.”
- Incoming president, Percy Sonn has a fun job, it seems*
“What is he doing there? [Three seconds later] That’s what he’s doing there.”
Ian Botham questions the logic of putting a deep cover boundary fielder out for Sanath Jayasuriya, who is caught a moment later … at exactly that spot
“I am concerned about the personnel. There’s no third umpire and there’s an Associate umpire at one end.”
Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer on the ODI against Scotland. ICC regulations state that no TV replays are needed in matches involving Associate countries
“Warne tends to bowl a lot slower and hence it is easier for umpires to form their opinion. Kumble on the other hand hits the bat a lot quicker and hence sometimes the umpires can’t be that sure.”
Simon Taufel tries to explain how it all works
“China is the world’s most populous country and the ICC would like to support cricket in China as much as possible.”
Malcolm Speed eyes up a lucrative and massive new market. Careful what you wish for, Malcolm. Look at the political mess Zimbabwe has landed the ICC in, and even their human rights record is not nearly as dubious as China’s
“A patched-up, inexperienced and demoralised rabble produced a limp performance which made the nine months until the World Cup seem not nearly far enough away.”
The Newcastle Evening Chronicle doesn’t hold back after the Chester-le-Street ODI produced yet another dismal England performance
“St Kitts has the best hotel on the Caribbean, it’s right on the beach!”
If Mickey Arthur is ever reported missing you know where to find him
“I worked with him, you played with him, and he can be hardwork. But in a loveable way.”
David Lloyd in conversation with Angus Fraser as they commentate on a typically aggressive spell by Dominic Cork
“Even the national team’s players cannot afford their own bat, pads or even boots. There is plenty of talent but hardly any infrastructure, cricketing or otherwise.”
Azan Khan, development officer for the Afghan Cricket Federation, highlights the gulf between the haves and the have-nots
“You can’t continue to take the players for granted. We have shown good faith and goodwill but you cannot continue to do it forever.”
Dinanath Ramnarine, the head of WIPA, the West Indies players’ association, on the showdown with the West Indies board over player contracts which threatens the St Kitts Test
“Familiarity breeds contempt, they say, and there is only so much of this repetitive rubbish we can take.”
*The Sun’s John Etheridge seems to be a big fan of the one-day game *
“They are exhausted and they are not going to take much more.”
*Tim May, the head of FICA, the international players’ association, on the issue of burnout *
“The umpires are always under lot of pressure and they are gonna make mistakes and they are gonna give good decisions; you just got to ride it, you got to live with it and move on. You know I have no qualms about the situation. It’s gone and you’ve just got to accept it. It’s a tough job, it’s a job you not doing it and I am not doing it and I have no plans of doing it at all.”
Brian Lara at the press conference in St Lucia reflected on the umpiring job and why he has no qualms about the umpiring decisions
" I don’t want to be the next Viv Richards, I just want to be Kevin Pietersen, the best Kevin Pietersen can be."
Kevin Pietersen - in case there was any doubt - … a man without an identity crisis
“A can of Red Bull before I go out to bat, for example, and I am away. What can I say? Life could not be better.”
Kevin Pietersen: the official unofficial sponsor of Red Bull
“You miss it. It’s a bit like eating cod and then having to go back and eat sardines. Once you have tasted it, there is nothing like it.”
Ray Price gets all fishy about wanting to return to international cricket for England
“They’ve brought out the heavyweight umpires today … and they don’t come much more heavyweight than Darrell.”
Jonathan Agnew with some less than flattering observations about Darrell Hair’s waistline
“I had just about forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder.”
Rahul Dravid talking to Dean Jones is forced to relive his dreadful stroke that dismissed him in the first innings at St Lucia
“Football is our national game, the one everyone gets behind.”
Andrew Flintoff seems to have a short memory - Ashes 2005, anyone?
“He is a positive guy, just like me. That’s why I guess the whole of India loves him. But if he was not a 'keeper and was a bowler, I would hit him for 10 sixes back. I am looking for revenge.”
Dave Mohammed (another potential blaster of our time?) sends out a warning after being carted around by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Antigua. Watch your head, folks!
“I definitely chucked a few but the umpires didn’t pick it up and there were no TV replays. On matting wickets, an offspin chuck got a lot of wickets.”
Incoming ICC president Percy Sonn on his days as a club cricketer
“The people I had played cricket with, like Paul Allott and Ian Botham, are very keen on pop music of the 1970s. I’d barely heard of, er, who are they … Led Zeppelin.”
Opera lover Bob Willis displays culture and an approach to rock music that would make all 70-year-olds proud. And that from a man who adopted ‘Dylan’ as a middle name in honour of the legendary Bob Dylan
“Never enough! Whatever it is in life, it’s never enough.”
Sounds about right. Mr Excess himself, Shane Warne, lays down his life’s philosophy
“Sourav’s mother has been really upset ever since he was pulled out of the Indian team and she strongly felt her son’s stars were not favouring him”
Sourav Ganguly’s not the only one praying for a change in fortunes - so is his mother, as attested by the family priest Kartik Chatterjee, who has been called in to help
“'We’re no doubt going to be working on his defence as the series goes on.”
Brian Lara on Dave Mohammed. Mohammed smacked 52 off 55 balls with several aggressive shots and then got out in the dying moments of the first Test at Antigua that West Indies drew with one wicket in hand.
“Since I’ll be in England, I won’t have to spend sleepless nights to watch the big event.”
Sourav Ganguly vows to keep one eye on the giant TV screens showing the World Cup while turning up for Northamptonshire.
“I have got six months of no income coming up with two kids and a family to feed. I can’t sit here and look that far ahead to the domestic season. I have to travel down a road that is going to be new to me.”
Craig McMillan, who was passed up for a central contract by New Zealand cricket, plans to dust off his CV and look for a job in the off season.
“You’ve got to make it tough. No freebies … target him. Break a finger if you want. That’ll stop him getting ten wickets”
Nasser Hussain on how to bowl to Muttiah Muralitharan
“Before I joined Channel 4 I played for a team that won f*** all for 15 years.”
Michael Atherton accepts an award at the Royal Television Sports Awards on behalf of the Channel 4/Sunset+Vine cricket team
“If the subject is cricket, the people of the Caribbean rival Italians in a coffee shop when it comes to animated discussion.”
There’s never a dull moment in the Windies when it comes to cricket, observes Ian Chappell
“My best assessment would be what a joke! I signed up for ‘priority’ ticketing and have nothing. The whole Australian Cricket Family exercise has been useless.”
Fan Grant Hutchinson highlights problems with Cricket Australia’s sale of tickets for the Ashes
“There have been some delays in some cities during the ticket sales process because of the demand. Cricket Australia thanks Australian Cricket Family members for their patience and perseverance.”
A Cricket Australia spokesman replies
“I didn’t like to be friendly with rivals. I wanted them to feel the heat. And I didn’t like reporters because you people think you know everything.”
Curtly Ambrose makes it clear he will not be joining the legion of former players earning a crust commentating on the game
“Those unimpressed by Pietersen’s flair for self promotion point out that [his] fan club would have the man himself as chairman, secretary, treasurer and special events organiser.”
Peter Hayter on arguments put forward by those less than impressed by the man himself
“I got carried away. The reverse sweep was premeditated and it came off. It was a bit naughty.”
Kevin Pietersen admits the reality behind his remarkable six off Murali
“How long will the coach and the players tolerate the debit side of the Panesar balance sheet?”
Stephen Fay, writing for The Independent is just as worried that the numbers don’t seem to add up for Monty’s batting and fielding
“It’s part of the journey I think, sometimes you are running along fine, you trip up sometimes and you got to dust yourself, pick up and keep running.”
Rahul Dravid’s philosophical reaction to the team’s defeat in one-day series against West Indies
“When I first joined Middlesex there was a big cards school which would start up when it rained with quite a lot of money going down … now with all the public schoolboys in the Middlesex team, they play Scrabble.”
Now we know why Mark Ramprakash abandoned Middlesex straight after his benefit … he can’t play Scrabble. Some at Lord’s might have a few 20-point words they could devise to describe their former captain, though
“It’s only a few weeks old…and if you know Colin Croft then let me tell you something, there are couple of bad performances coming and you can see two huge pages in Express or one of those newspapers and he is letting me have it.”
*Brian Lara, when asked if he is enjoying his latest stint as the captain *
“I’m not going to lose direction of what I’m doing and I’m not going to take my eye off the ball. Things off the field come around by performing on it and if that stops there’s going to be nothing there.”
In spite of his TV stints and appearances at Beckingham Palace, Andrew Flintoff stresses that he is not getting distracted by his celebrity lifestyle
“I clipped my first ball straight into the hands of short-leg - it was the longest walk back to the pavilion I have ever had.”
Andrew Strauss remembers falling first ball for Oxfordshire Under-19s as he becomes President of Primary Club Juniors
“I’ve been practising hard. I’m looking forward to the Test series in the Caribbean. Let’s see.”
Sourav Ganguly being the eternal optimist
“With it being his benefit year, too, he might be able to help us pay for it.”
Jack Simmons, the Lancashire chairman, suggests that Andrew Flintoff might be able to help with the cost of Old Trafford’s redevelopment
“My wife doesn’t like me going to Twickenham because there’s so much totty there, but she doesn’t mind me coming to Lord’s because you never see any pretty women at cricket.”
Spectator comment overheard during the Lord’s Test. Our own Jenny Thompson, who was in the crowd, was unavailable for comment
“It’s got nothing to do with cricket - it’s all about how good you look on the beach.”
Mark Butcher explains the reasoning behind England’s fitness push since Michael Vaughan came on board
“Trying to get a ball past him is like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster.”
Commentator Jeremy Coney on bowling to Brian Lara
“Imaginatively entitled “Stumpy” and “Willow”, these two rubbery-limbed puppets are charged with explaining Test cricket to an audience not totally versed in the game’s complexities, albeit in a way which suggests that Sky is specifically targeting three-year-olds and Americans.”
Journalist Martin Johnson on Sky Sports’ new innovation which have not been universally welcomed
“It would be a surprise if the mirrors in Pietersen’s house totalled anything less the entire stock at one of the larger branches of B & Q, and though it is not uncommon nowadays for the voice from the bedroom calling out: “I’ll be down in a minute darling, I’m just putting in my ear-rings” to be a male one.”
Martin Johnson, again, this time on Kevin Pietersen
“He is big and brash and as subtle as colonic irrigation.”
Rick Broadbent on Pietersen after his brilliant 158 at Lord’s
“There is a saying that one wicket leads to two when you break a partnership and I didn’t want to be one of the blokes who came in to be a double wicket.”
Kevin Pietersen logically reasons why he had to score 158
“Each country is entitled to its own way of doing things but to an Englishman this seems like the Queen, or her Prime Minister, giving orders.”
Christopher Martin-Jenkins writing for The Times, is zapped to hear that Sanath Jayasuriya was recalled at the insistence of his country’s President. Well that’s how things work in this part of the world
“The open-topped bus ride around Trafalgar Square was a joyous moment in history, but if these things are graded by magnitude of achievement, England’s reward for beating Sri Lanka will be a gentle spin in a milk float down Marylebone Road.” Martin Johnson sums it up in The Telegraph
“Matthew Hoggard called the Prime Minister a knob when we were celebrating winning the Ashes at a Downing Street function, and you know what? That’s the first thing Hoggy’s got right in a while. Blair is a knob.”
England captain Andrew Flintoff shows what he lacks in diplomacy he makes up for in having his finger on the pulse of the nation
“The only way they’ll get a wicket is if the ball hits a brick in the middle of the pitch … it wouldn’t frighten me mum, this bowling.”
Geoff Boycott with his take on the Sri Lankan attack
“They all want my son to retire but Sourav will not retire till his death.”
Chandi Ganguly speaks up for his son without any fear of being cautioned
“They should not be made to be playing at this level. It’s unfair on them and it’s unfair on international cricket, and the ICC has really got examine itself very hard to see what it can do about it, because it’s certainly not doing much for cricket.”
Tony Cozier shoots from the hip when asked about ZImbabwe’s performance in the Caribbean
“I might have to hire security to keep the young girls away.”
As Michael Bevan prepares to take part in It Takes Two, an Australian singing programme, his manager Robert Joske braces himself for much swooning
“I joined in for the chorus of Rocket Man, but luckily he drowned me out.”
A typically modest Andrew Flintoff seems to have put aside ambitions for a singing career, allowing the pros, in this case Elton John who was supporting his benefit year, to get on with it
“I’ve had the hip problem and the hip problem is still there. Which came first - the groin or the hip?”
What is it with English cricketers and groins? On the heels of Min Patel’s rather odd case, Ashley Giles gets quirky on his Gilmour groin - a type of hernia
“Groins, I’m told, are notoriously bad for never going away. It’s something I’ve had for a couple of years. It disappears for months on end and reappears out of nowhere.”
- Kent’s Min Patel on his anatomical oddity … a disappearing groin*
“If any player feels there is burnout, he can take a rest. The board cannot change its policy or itinerary for any player.”
Indian board secretary Niranjan Shah reveals a sympathetic approach to the issue of player burnout
“Sometimes, you just have to make a decision and move forward but every asshole has an opinion. They sit around, questioning everything. Sometimes, you need someone to just take the bull by the horns and get the job done. These directors have been there for years and all they did was run the board into bankruptcy.”
- An unnamed source within the West Indies Cricket Board on the rather cumbersome committee structure which runs the game in the region*
‘‘Even after 10 flops there, you get to do a film and if that clicks, you are in the news there. But in cricket, 10 failures means you are well out of the scene. And as for commentary, it’s a tough job, in fact tougher than acting. Besides, you need to keep talking for hours and so I’m not going to do that,’.’’
MS Dhoni when asked about his future plans and whether he has considered acting or commentating as a future career
“If I’m honest, I’m tired out.”
Shane Warne after taking 7 for 99 against Middlesex on Friday. While those who back claims that player burnout is a major issue assumed this was more ammunition for them, Sunday newspapers claimed that Warne had spent the previous night otherwise engaged with two 25-year-old models
“He was so fit. I’d give him top marks for more than satisfying us.”
Coralie Eichholtz, one of the models referred to, testifies that Australia’s ftiness training is up to scratch as far as Shane Warne is concerned
“We all knew it was risky.”
You don’t say! Chetram Singh, president of the Guyana Cricket Board and a director of the West Indies Cricket Board, on the decision to schedule two ODIs against Zimbabwe in Guyana in May, traditionally the wettest month of the year. Heavy rain washed the first match out
“If Ricky said to me at some stage, ‘Look we really need you’, then I would think about it, but I don’t think it would ever come to that.”
So that’s settled then. Shane Warne will definitely not be making a comeback to one-day cricket ahead of the World Cup … unless his captain asks really nicely
“If it wasn’t for Shane Warne in that Australia team then we would have won the Ashes 4-1.”
Kevin Pietersen fires England’s first shots in the war of words ahead of the 2006-07 rematch
“We are confident 2011 will represent a new landmark as a cricketing and sporting milestone. The cricket World Cup will be as big as the one for football.”
Inderjit Singh Bindra gets a bit carried away. The football version involves over 200 countries - with 32 in the finals alone - and the last final attracted five billion viewers. But good to aim high, nevertheless
“If Chris Gayle is turning the ball it must have something to do with the pitch.”
Jeff Dujon, the former West Indies wicketkeeper, explains why Gayle managed to find some spin during the first ODI against Zimbabwe
“It’s not a turning of a page in history but a rewriting of a chapter.”
Raj Singh Dungarpur, the Cricket Club of India president, waxes emotional on the return of one-day international cricket to the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai
“I think seven one-dayers is too many. Three or five is right. With more, you just keep ticking them off and counting them down.”
Michael Vaughan when asked about the length of the India tour and player burnout
“I am your die-hard fan. I was desperate to meet you.”
Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood legend with a fanatic fan following, succeeds in chasing down Mahendra Singh Dhoni
“I still do the same things I’ve always done. I go and have a pint with my mates down the pub, I go horse racing and do various other things I’ve always done, so my life hasn’t changed too dramatically.”
Andrew Flintoff confirms that weight loss and Ashes glory can’t change the Freddie of old
“It really surprises me … you are so consistent and I’m not”
Sachin Tendulkar, on his 33rd birthday, thanks the media for their unwavering love and affection and assures himself of a good press into the bargain
“I went back into the specialist’s waiting room cheering because I had a hernia and I think everyone in there thought I was mad.”
A delighted Ashley Giles recalls a beautiful moment … He had worried he needed another hip operation - which would have taken longer to heal
“Dinosaurs. I think that is the greatest insult from someone who has not had any achievement in international cricket, just two or three titles with Queensland.”
Dr Rudi Webster regrets endorsing Bennett King as national coach after King called some of the West Indies greats dinosaurs
“All these complaints about too much cricket nowadays is rubbish. In our days we yearned for more matches.”
Javed Miandad joins the ranks of the ‘in my day’ old timers. In his 20-year international career, Miandad played 233 ODIs. Inzamam-ul-Haq, the current Pakistan captain, has played 251 in the last 10 years
“As a keen football fan myself it’s exciting to be able to do my bit for the World Cup cause”
Darren Gough is delighted to be taking part in preparations for the football World Cup - he will appear in a pop video for an unofficial songas Cricinfo revealed
“Gillespie’s innings produced no benefit whatever to the team or to Australian cricket, except maybe to show other tailenders what can be accomplished if you apply yourself.”
An “anonymous” former Australian opener shoots from the hip. Whoever he is, we can assume he never made a Test double-century
“I’m sorry to say that I’m the person who recommended him to the WICB.”
Rudi Webster rues his decision of recommending Bennett King to the WICB for the coach’s post
“I can’t believe Haydos is trying to start another war of words, I thought he would have learned from last time.”
Ooh, ominous … Simon Jones is bemused as to why Matthew Hayden would want to kick off again after what happened last summer
“Only the Aussies would organise it.”
As plans for a nude beach cricket match to mark Anzac day approach fruition in Australia, New Zealand Returned Services Association spokesman Bill Hopper lays bare the fact that there will be no similar event in New Zealand
“At school it should be compulsory to learn the waltz.”
Now, we know Darren Gough loves a bit of dancing, but this could be pushing it. Whatever next - mandatory Morris Dancing?
“There were snide remarks from the British media about some of the hotels in India, very cleverly forgetting that hotels in places like Durham and Derby or Sussex are pathetic to say the least. At least none of the Indian hotels are known to be haunted as the one in Durham is.”
Sunil Gavaskar isn’t happy about the British media,or the hotels over there
“The prospect of staging an Ashes Test match in Wales may be slightly less appropriate than holding an eisteddfod in Bulgaria.”
The writer Stephen Brenkley suggests that the decision to award the Ashes to Cardiff is just not right
“It’s just very inconvenient and not a little bit embarrassing. The players use their own trousers anyway and the jumpers are from last season.”
Northamptonshire’s chief executive, Mark Tagg, faces up to his county’s first setback of the summer … the delayed arrival of the team kit from China
“Matty Hayden reckons if I got to 200 he would do a nude lap of the Oval. I mentioned I would too … [but] being in a Muslim country. I don’t know if it would be perceived right.”
Jason Gillespie should appreciate that ‘it being a Muslim country’ has got nothing to do with the streak being an unwelcome tour ender
“Whenever I am out of form, I get to play against India and I regain my form.”
Younis Khan’s advice to batsmen around the world after his 71 not out led Pakistan to victory in the 1st ODI at Abu Dhabi
“Hansel and Gretel and Dizzy’s double hundred, it’s one and the same. Absolute fairytale.”
A dreamy Jason Gillespie goes all dizzy just thinking about his innings
“We looked up at the dressing room stairs and there was Kyle Mills. He was coming in to be a new-ball watchman, or something like that.”
Dale Steyn’s take on New Zealand’s tactic to promote Kyle Mills to No 3 in the last innings of the first Test at Centurion. Mills lasted all of two balls.
“My life hasn’t changed that much. I just get the piss taken out of me even more by the Essex boys. I seem to be the butt of everyone’s jokes at the moment. I thought they might have moved on and found some new jokes but they seem to be happy with the old ones.”
*Fame in India has made little difference to *Alastair Cook’s ** life back in Essex.
“I love success. I don’t wake up in the morning thinking: ‘Great – I’ve got one million pounds in the bank’.”
Kevin Pietersen - are you sure? We know we would …
“By giving Ramesh Powar consecutive games, India have found that here’s a guy who has a heart as big as his waist, and loves to play in a tense situation.”
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar puts things in perspective
“He’s big and rawboned and I suspect he has the IQ of an empty swimming pool.”
Former New Zealand wicketkeeper Adam Parore has nothing but praise for Andre Nel ahead of the first Test at Centurion
“If you’d been in our dressing room and seen how fatigued and exhausted some of the players are I think everyone would be quite surprised.”
Ricky Ponting admits what everyone suspected
“I have bowled a trillion overs. I feel like I am running on fumes at the moment. The petrol’s gone.”
And Brett Lee also tells it how it is
“Year after year, the wonderful folks at the ICC assemble the world’s best players and get them to play bad cricket. If they staged W.G.'s XI v The Don’s XI at the Elysian Oval with S. F. Barnes bowling to Victor Trumper, they would find some way of making the occasion dismal. It’s a gift, really: a form of anti-showmanship.”
Matthew Engel writing in the new Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack
“The weather is an occupational hazard at this time of year. We drove through a blizzard to get to Manchester, but once the ice was cleared we had lovely blue skies the rest of the day.”
David Byas, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, explains what fun his team had negotiating the Pennines en route to Old Trafford for a friendly
“We have had exceptionally wet weather in Derby … everywhere in the county is in the same boat.”
Must be getting crowded on board the County Ground’s ark. Derbyshire’s chief executive, Tom Sears, explains how the weather has affected them to - meaning they’ve had to shift to Surrey for their first fixture of the season
“Cricket has become very fond of the fashionable word ‘stakeholder’. I occasionally get communications from official bodies addressed to me that way. One might swank about this, but I suspect my stakeholding is analogous to that of a woman with one share turning up at the Marks & Spencer AGM to moan about the knickers being frumpy.”
Matthew Engel writing in the new Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack
“The game could have been played, and the situation could have been avoided, but they made the wrong decision.”
PK Deb, the vice-president of the regional Assam Cricket Association, accused the umpires of making a mistake, which led to riots after the abandonment of the Guwahati ODI
“Any team on their day can win the World Cup. It takes two people to win a game of one-day cricket. In five-day cricket, it’s team against team and it takes a lot more than two people to win it.”
Matthew Hoggard explains to the media why winning the Ashes means so much more to England than winning the World Cup
In the years BD (Before Doosra), it is hard to imagine the need for tolerance levels in the bend of the arm in delivery …"
Mike Selvey on the moment that changed offspin bowling forever
“It was like Lennox Lewis whacked me.”
***Jus
***SOURCE: http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/quote/content/current/page/156062.html
*A bit long but interesting