Cricket has a stigma of old men in white clothes playing cricket but readdressing that image to people who aren't necessarily cricket lovers may go some way to making it cooler.

I was not a political animal; I could not toady up to the committee men, pour drinks down their necks at the bar, and make them feel important. I was too focused on the cricket.

A lot of parents today come forward to encourage their daughters to take up sport because they feel women's cricket is growing in India and they can make a profession out of it.

Playing cricket has given me an excellent opportunity to get fit and healthy, meet people of similar interests, integrate with people of different backgrounds and see the world.

I wouldn't rule out the idea of four-day Test cricket, if we can get the playing conditions right and the right circumstances it might be a good thing in some parts of the world.

Cricket and tennis are very different skill sets, but I've played tennis all my life, so it's a lot easier coming back than learning how to face a cricket ball for the first time.

Fitness is amplified in one-day cricket - fielding, running ones, twos, threes. Sometimes in an over you are running six twos. If you are not fit enough, you can't run those runs.

The problem with West Indies cricket is that the talent is there but there is no cohesion. Everybody's pulling in different directions; the players, the selectors, the management.

I have already established myself as Stuart Binny. I want to be known as a good player who served Karnataka cricket for more than a decade and also played Test cricket for country.

I practised as an architect for 10 years. I qualified in 1973 with a fellowship diploma of architecture. World Series Cricket gave me the freedom to go out and pursue architecture.

When you sit down and focus on the matches and series that took place during the 12 month period it strikes you just how broad the talent pool is in international cricket is today.

An Australian prime minister once said that his job was the second most important job in the country - behind being captain of the cricket team. It's not a job you take on lightly.

India should not have any ties with Pakistan, be it Bollywood or cricket. I am shocked that Bollywood is saying that cricket and movies should be kept ahead of national sentiments.

I truly believe that players who tell you they don't feel the pressure of international cricket, of being away from home for months at a time, are lying to everyone and themselves.

The Australians are a weird bunch - until the cricket starts they're really friendly, saying 'good luck' all the time, but the moment the cricket begins they have a real go at you.

Norm Smith personally came and signed me up to the Melbourne Football Club. The fact that I then played cricket for Melbourne Cricket Club - the footy club didn't like it that much.

For me, David Warner isn't just the future of Australian batting, he's the future for cricket in general because he can excel in any form of the game. I'm excited just watching him.

In all my years of cricket, I've given hundreds of interviews and done dozens of TV shows, but what you will read in my memoir are the stories and thoughts I've never shared openly.

Australia play best when they've got a bit of mongrel about them, when they play hard out in the middle, when they don't give an inch, when they play an aggressive brand of cricket.

About five years ago, I was offered a contract by the Clifton Village Cricket Club in Nottingham, England. I was staying with one of my teammates there and everything was new for me.

Cricket has so many meanings to so many Australians. It’s become precisely that - an Australian way of life. And what a life it is. Some would even go as far as to say, ‘marvellous’.

I think we are going to see exciting cricket all the way. We are watching the two best teams in the world-and I think England will eventually go on to pip Australia by a single Test.

I would like to thank all my captains who believed in me and backed me to the hilt. I also thank our greatest partner, the Indian cricket fan, for all the love, support, and memories.

Playing for India was a memorable journey, and I tried to make it more memorable for my team mates and the Indian cricket fans. I believe that I was reasonably successful in doing so.

When I was 15, I started playing first class cricket and always dreamt of being a Test cricketer, wanted to do something for the country, married in 1995, have 2 kids it's been great.

The cricket star, like everyone else, should have an intelligent understanding of the crisis of the nation-state and the marginalisation of small communities within the global economy.

I like being out on the cricket field and performing and playing in front of a crowd. I find it quite tricky when there are press photographers outside my house. It's all very bizarre.

I suppose I'm a cultural Anglican, and I see evensong in a country church through much the same eyes as I see a village cricket match on the village green. I have a certain love for it.

In tennis ball cricket, even it's hit from the toe of the bat, the ball still travels a lot, but in normal cricket, it has to be the middle part of the bat, so it requires a lot of work.

I am a sportsman and not a politician. I am a sportsman and will always remain one. I am not going to enter politics giving up cricket, which is my life. I will continue to play cricket.

I always wanted to play cricket, and I have played competitive cricket to a fairly good level. I remember that my father used to come and watch me play. He used to love watching me play.

I do not play golf regularly, but I feel that hitting the moving ball in cricket is tougher than hitting a stationary ball as in golf, which requires more concentration and steady hands.

I've been lucky in that my parents have always supported me with my cricket, but I've seen so many young Asian girls who don't keep up their sporting interests after the age of 12 or 13.

I would love to play cricket today, with all - I am not just talking of money - the opportunity you get, the practice facilities, the amount of time you are able to put into preparation.

I spent hours playing in the garden on my own. I used to play cricket with myself. I never remember thinking, I wish I had a brother or sister. I had a lot of friends, and that was fine.

The difference between a score in the 90s and a century is often reflected as the difference between failure and success. It may be illogical, but in cricket, a century has its own magic.

To compare Olympic sport with cricket would not be fair. Years back, cricket was a sport only for the classes, and we will also have to make other sports masses from classes like cricket.

Obviously, I'm enjoying my County stint. This is the first time I am playing County cricket and it's a different experience. It's an opportunity of a lifetime and everyone should play it.

I was enjoying my football, even though it wasn't really going well. That's when I said to my dad, who as a New Zealander was very keen on me playing cricket, that I would choose football.

My outlook is that when you're under pressure then that is when you play your best cricket. You've got no choice but to perform to keep your place and I find that brings out the best in me.

In 50over cricket there are different ways of playing. It's not all about smacking it over the top. It's important someone bats through the innings. That would be one of the options for me.

When my ban was relaxed I began playing club cricket. Imagine, for a person who had played at Lord's, to play with a club team who didn't have proper kit against another club team in Lahore.

So I never forget how lucky I am. That's the reason above all else why I'm determined to keep enjoying cricket, whatever the wins or the losses. As long as I do that then the runs will come.

Cricket isn't the be all and end all. That doesn't mean you put in less effort or don't try as hard. You put everything into it, but at the end of the day there are bigger and better things.

I don't think, in international cricket, there is a need for coaching. The real coaching is to recognise your players' strengths and weaknesses. You always remain positive with your players.

My biggest concern is that Test cricket and Twenty20 cricket are competing too much. They should be complementing each other and the more they clash the more damaging it will be for cricket.

I made my debut in 2006 and absolutely, there was the pressure of the cricket, but there was no social media. There was no direct feedback to your phone. If you wanted to, you could avoid it.

What is important for me is playing cricket and not thinking about how my Test career is shaping up. I am not into future planning and all. I am concerned about my present and not the future.

Soccer and cricket were my main sports growing up. I had trials as a soccer player with a few clubs interested, Crystal Palace being one, but it was cricket which became my chosen profession.

Once I failed in cricket, I joined a law course, but when it also did not work out, it was another setback. When you get back-to-back failures, you automatically start to work harder in life.

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