Garfield Sobers

“It's good to draw spectators to the grounds, but I don't think Twenty20 will help you produce good Test cricketers.”

“In the early days, when I first got into the WI team, when the Ws were playing, I would sit and watch. When you could learn from watching players like that, it was a great joy to watch them play.”

“I only played to the best of my ability and with passion. Call it what you will.”

“I don't think cricket is a game that people who have never played or been involved in understand the excitement. It's a game that is full of excitement, because cricket lovers follow the game and understand the basic principles and rules. They become connoisseurs of the game.”

“There are a plenty of shots that I have been amazed by, but a lot of these shots are played because you have worn an iron mask. Take away the protection, and let me see if they play them. Don't forget that the past players did not have any protection.”

“Only men like Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham can be branded all-rounders.”

“In the 1950s, when we went to Lord's, you had to sit down, and it was very prim and proper. It was only in the 1960s when we started to do well that West Indians started voicing their opinions.”

“When I played cricket for the West Indies, I never worried. I never really watched anyone else. I had a job to do, and I tried to do it to the best of my ability.”

“Barbados has some of the toughest par threes in the world. Some golfers are intimidated by having to drive over ravines and water hazards.”

“If you are going to raise youngsters for Test cricket that don't have the experience, you can't stick them into T20. You've got to teach them first how to play Test cricket, and when they're good enough for Test cricket and if they want to play both formats, then they can.”

“In cricket, there is a lot of psychology in the game, especially if you are watching people who are not top-class.”

“I enjoyed playing any type of cricket. Didn't matter what type it was because I did not want to change my game. My game was built on one type of cricket: if there was a ball to hit, you hit it, whether it was Test matches, whatever it was.”

“T20 is good entertainment. It is a game you need. People go to watch it. You have to be careful how far you let it go.”

“I love India. I love to visit the country.”

“My whole obligation was to West Indies cricket. As I have always said, I have never made a run for me. Records meant nothing. The team was important.”

“Australia is always a place that is dear to me; it is always my second home, and I try to get there as often as I can, but it is not next door, you know.”

“I have so many fond memories of the Tied Test, and I can't wait to come back to Brisbane. One thing that stands out is that both teams stayed at the same hotel. We got to know each other so well. Some of my best cricketing friends were in that Australian team.”

“West Indian cricket means so much to people who live here. And when we're not doing well, we all feel it.”

“When I look at someone like Andrew Symonds, I see a player who has done phenomenally well with the bat, as his record shows. He certainly has the ability to be a very good all-rounder, but I think to be a great one, you need to be able to turn a game with the bat or the ball.”

“I learned to bat and bowl on different pitches and knew when to go hard and when to back off. It was just something I learned.”