Alastair Cook

“As cricketers we're judged on the average we have from being a 21-year-old who's just come into international cricket to the day you retire.”

“When you step out of the team environment you think, 'Wow, I'm England captain and we've just won the Ashes.'”

“Playing for England is such a huge honour - it should always remain that.”

“When you are so close to something, it's like a bar of soap - if someone says hold on to it, the harder you squeeze, the quicker it pops out of your hand.”

“Relief isn't quite the right word but there's satisfaction at a job well done and I'm proud to say that I'm an Ashes-winning captain. Without taking it too personally, it has a nice little ring to it.”

“I think I come back to Essex and fit in pretty well but until you get there you don't know.”

“You're either singing on TV or in front of a full cathedral and there's a bit of pressure there. I know it sounds funny but if you get used to doing it, then performing in front of people playing cricket is the same sort of thing.”

“The England captaincy job, after 50-odd games, has found out what kind of leader I am in terms of a person. It's made me feel far more confident in terms of talking to a group in any situation. But it has taken me a long time to feel like I've been doing it naturally.”

“The beauty of cricket is that there are so many different opinions as to the best way to do something and at times it is easier to see something when you're not emotionally involved in the game and not responsible for the decision. You can go and have a cup of tea and look at it from a different point of view.”

“I love the individual sport stuff but the experiences I've had with some great people over 12 or 15 years are what makes is special. That individual thing: me versus the bowler is great but you get that team feeling as well and that's why it suits me so well.”

“Sport is an entertainment, in one sense. But it's also a business.”

“I was never going to be the best player the world has ever seen but one thing I can be proud of is that I genuinely believe I have become the best player that I could have become.”

“I don't think you have to be this macho man all the time, just because you play sport.”

“Many people have helped me during my career and without them and fantastic team-mates and coaches it would not have been possible to achieve all that I have.”

“Alex Hales has tightened up his game from South Africa and learned about Test cricket. It's great when you see someone who doesn't quite nail it, but goes away and works away at it, come back a person who understands more about Test cricket.”

“The stats suggest that I'm not a dasher. It doesn't mean I can't play the shots, but when you find a method in four-day and Test cricket that works for you, you stick with it.”

“I think it's very hard to shake what people first think of you straightaway.”

“No matter how much cricket you have played you are always learning.”

“I always found one-day cricket a lot harder. I had to change my game.”

“In international cricket you have to thrive on the big stage, you have to deal with the media and the pressure.”