“They have played some very good one-day cricket over the last couple of years, probably particularly in South Africa, so they’ll be definitely up for it.”

Author: Ponting

“The most famous cricketers are too big to play county cricket.”

Author: Botham

“The cricket hasn’t knocked horseracing off the top as leading sport in terms of total betting turnover, but on days when the cricket has been on everything else has taken a back seat. There’s been an enormous amount of interest during any given Test. There’s massive trading of positions all day. People have their computers on next to their televisions. They bet literally hundreds of times in the course of a match.”

Author: Davies

“It’s most important that cricket is played in [public] schools.”

Author: Thorpe

“He didn’t quite manage to get his leg over.’ – about Ian Botham, though admittedly on the cricket pitch at the time”

Author: Agnew

“We sent AB back home to learn some more about ODI cricket. He had a bit of an identity crisis in this form of the game. I’m happy to see how well he did and we will definitely consider him.”

Author: Arthur

“We don’t want cricket reduced to a level where it turns into a hooligans’ sport and the spirit of the game is eroded. We can’t have a situation like we see in football.”

Author: Mani

“In cricket, you have a sense of sport as it should be played by people who respect each other. They fought fiercely but they were friends.”

Author: Kellner

“Football has something to learn from cricket: respect for officials, for each other as professionals and for the opponents.”

Author: Caborn

“The matches have been so close and tensely fought that people not only in England but in other cricket playing nations are totally involved in its outcome.”

Author: Miandad

“This is going to be the biggest summer of cricket that we’ve ever seen and we want to make sure that Australian cricket fans are there and make up the majority of the crowd.”

Author: Sutherland

“I think it’s protocol now that Michael Brown [Cricket Australia’s operations manager] lets you know when you’re in and Trevor lets you know when you’re out.”

Author: Kasprowicz

“Respect for each other is a key component of the game and racist comments have no place in cricket. That this is an isolated incident by a small number of people in one country does not lessen the game’s resolve to address the issue.”

Author: Speed

“I’m baffled by the international standard of cricket”

Author: Vaughan

“Hugh’s just a geezer, a great laugh – although he is a bit corrupting. But he did get me interested in golf and cricket and snooker.”

Author: Hoult

“six really caused a big problem, the ball change really made a big difference. They got a harder ball and the ball tends to do a lot more when it’s a bit newer and they had the advantage but having said that we are capable players, we cannot say because of the ball we did not win, New Zealand played good cricket as well, you have to give them credit.”

Author: Gayle

“To think of playing cricket for hard cash! Money and gentility would ruin any pastime under the sun.”

Author: Mitford

“Besides hoping for a full day’s cricket, we do stand to make money from ancillary areas such as food and drink if we have a full attendance. The less play there is, the less we will make.”

Author: Smith

“The cricket talent in India is still very much untapped. The hope is that the new money can help find our future stars.”

Author: Dravid

“If we create good facilities, then youngsters will want to play cricket at their local clubs.”

Author: Cook

“Irrespective of what happened in the past (the just-concluded Test series), we will play positive and good cricket.”

Author: Dravid

“It will take time for them to become a good team again and not allowing them to play Test cricket won’t help them.”

Author: Ganguly

“Not playing test cricket will help me keep fit and allow me to play on until next year’s World Cup. I will definitely retire from all cricket after that tournament.”

Author: Jayasuriya

“Cricket highlights are one of the jewels in our crown and will play a big part in our continued development as a broadcaster. We are planning to invest significantly behind them, while the cross-media promotional benefits of our deal with the Telegraph offer a unique opportunity to deliver something innovative and heavyweight.”

Author: Lewis

“Our cricket is too gentle – all of it.”

Author: Stewart

“If you are a Swede living in Sweden, Portugal and Italy you don’t know much about cricket. We don’t understand, we have never played it. If you live in England, you should go to see it at least once to know something about it.”

Author: Eriksson

“My mother-in-law, she never watched cricket in her life and she’s watching it,”

Author: Mann

“My mother-in-law, she never watched cricket in her life and she’s watching it. It’s because we’re good at it again. It’s come back. Cricket’s come back to England.”

Author: Mann

“Cricket South Africa did indicate they would try and get me more involved with the national team and give me more of a hands-on role.”

Author: Donald

“Cricket just takes a back seat, however much time he needs he’s got. He’s said his intention is to keep playing, but we’ll just have to see how things unfold over the next weeks.”

Author: Ponting

“There are times when I have felt the pressure, but at the moment I play cricket the only way I can.”

Author: Flintoff

“We can go out and play instinctive cricket with the pressure off.”

Author: Ponting

“We are keen to play more cricket against India, both in Tests and one-day internationals.”

Author: Young

“It’s how you should play cricket. They did the right thing declaring at tea and we set a total they can get if they play very well.”

Author: Lehmann

“Getting home for three days, getting away from the cricket was great.”

Author: Flintoff

“He has been playing club cricket at home and he has been batting and bowling, so he is fine.”

Author: Tissera

“I don’t think it should be too bad. I’ve seen back home in cricket, you have the third umpire for run-outs, stuff like that. It all happens pretty quickly.”

Author: Hewitt

“In fact, I wonder who are the people who go to watch old men play cricket. I fear that someone would collapse on the field one day.”

Author: Khan

“We’ve been learning throughout the Test match and understanding a bit more about how people play their cricket, … Obviously, Steve and I know the best way for each other to perform, but the other lads are a bit of a mix and match.”

Author: Flintoff

“It’s probably my best day of cricket to date, … the highest point so far.”

Author: Flintoff