Steve Smith

“During a Test match I am not a very good sleeper, mainly because I am visualising. Everything is positive. Nothing negative.”

“I love to speak to Brad Haddin, Simon Katich. All different people. Quality people with opinions I can trust.”

“First and foremost I'm a batsman in the side and that's my job, to score runs.”

“I don't like watching cricket, believe it or not.”

“If it takes me 300 balls to get a 100, then it'll take me 300 balls. That'll also tire the bowlers quite a bit too, so it's a bit of a win-win if that's the case.”

“I've always been one to want a fair contest between bat and ball even as a batter, so if that's taken away I don't think that's great.”

“I've certainly had some difficult days. But it's OK to be vulnerable.”

“It was an amazing feeling to be able to win a World Cup and at home in Australia.”

“My record probably is better when I'm captain than when I'm not. That sort of pressure doesn't really bother me.”

“With the spin bowling, it's about landing the ball in the right area enough, trying to build enough pressure, not let the batters get away.”

“In Australia you can be a little bit more attacking, in places on the subcontinent you've got to find ways to get batsmen out, you might have to bore them out.”

“It depends on who's bowling, how is the wicket playing, how I gonna score and stuff like that or how people are trying to get me out, probably that determines how open I am or otherwise how closed I am.”

“We want to be No.1 in all three formats.”

“I think the Australian public would love to see the best Australian team on the park for every game. It's difficult to do that with the schedule and how much we play.”

“In the shorter form of the game, I think I'm getting a lot smarter with the way I'm approaching my innings and also the way I read the game.”

“With training for T20, I try to clear the fence a lot.”

“I remember Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell getting into me quite a bit. I don't think they really rated the way I played. But maybe I've changed their views now perhaps a little bit.”

“I just want to keep playing good cricket and winning games of cricket.”

“I don't like being back in the sheds, I prefer being out in the middle and just doing my thing.”

“It's just about getting those runs on the board and the more I can do that, the more I can put my name up there.”