Ricky Ponting

“I had big shoes to fill, but the way we have been playing has made the transition easy.”

“I want to be a dad, first and foremost. I want to be a good father. I've spent so much of my life on the move and travelling around the world that just to set up a home for my family and be a good dad is something that motivates me.”

“I know when I've been playing a lot of golf it takes me a while to get back into cricket again. It's not so much the different shape of the swings, more the fact that you are stationary when you hit a golf ball. In cricket you have to move forward or back, which is an instinctive timing thing.”

“It's always good to win a Test match and if you win it comfortably, it can leave a few psychological marks on opposition sides.”

“I've told the guys to keep their heads up. I really believe we played a great game here.”

“I was always fiercely determined and driven to succeed.”

“It was a long, hard, tough day. We managed to just sneak through, it was an unbelievable Test match.”

“We knew that if we had to win the World Cup, the defensive side of the game had to be better, which means bowlers will have to bowl tight and we will have to field better.”

“I think any time you lose an Ashes series, especially with the hype and build-up surrounding it and the pride we have as Australians playing against England, that's always hard to take.”

“We have played so well that the guys have really made my job fairly easy.”

“It's a song that we sing after we win a Test match. We sing it after every one-day series win. It's been passed down through the generations. It's the culture of the Australian team.”

“It's nice to put your hand up and do the big things the team requires of you.”

“Every decision you make in life, not just on the sporting field - a lot of time and energy goes into it. You think things through before you make decisions and you always think the decision you make at the time is going to be the right one.”

“I guess we speak pretty loosely, don't we, about looking forward to the Ashes and all that—and we are, but it's not with both eyes. We've got one eye on that and one eye on what we need to get in place to make sure we're the best team we can be for November.”

“How much golf I actually play depends on whom you ask. My wife says I'm out there every day. If you ask me, the cricket is getting in the way of the golf.”