I'm not too good with packing. I always have every intention of doing it the week before and then leave it until the last moment - but at least I do it myself, I don't leave it to the missus.

I'm ugly, I'm overweight, but I'm happy

That means I can drive a flock of sheep through the town centre, drink for free in no less than 64 pubs and get a lift home with the police when I become inebriated. What more could you want?

Captaincy is something you get better at through experience. You've got to trust your instincts.

A lot of the lads have a bat for the nets, a bat for facing the bowling machine and a separate bat for the match. I'll just crack on with a bat until it breaks - then crack on with another one.

It's far more daunting than bowling to Ricky Ponting or facing Shane Warne

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

When I have a day off, I will have a day off.

We have to take care of our own game. There's only one place we've got to stick up for ourselves and that's the pitch.

I'm not really someone who looks forward to the gym. But I realise it's something that I have to do to perform well on the pitch.

I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to facing Brett Lee again. He bowls at 95mph so enjoyment is not the word I would use.

Life is fulfilling when you are being productive

The future is the one thing you can count on not abandoning you, kid, he’d said. The future will always finds you. Stand still, and it will find you. The way the land just has run to sea.

For sailors who love the wind, memory is a good port of departure.

Be kind! Give small things with great love.

Charm is a cunning self-forgetfulness.

On Ernst Lubitsch: He could do more with a closed door than other directors could do with an open fly.

The conservative revival cannot be dismissed.

When I was born, my father wanted to drown me, but my mother persuaded him to let me live in disguise, to see if I could bring any wealth to the household.

I shook my head and turned away, unable to hear this. “I’m leaving now. I really don’t want to see you again. Nothing personal. Well, yeah, actually it is.

Often, the pretexts for starting a war are not real shortages of land, food or fuel, but rather perceptions - like fear, honor and perceived self-interest.