Growing up in the '70s my heroes were Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Roy Fredericks as a left-hand batsman.

You just don't pick up family values, unless your parents teach you and let you know exactly what they expect.

There are always going to be critics. But I have got to go out there and do my job.

It's an honour to captain the West Indies.

The most unfortunate thing in cricket is not achieving what I set out to do from the very beginning: to be a part of a successful team over a long period of time. I had a little taste of it when I started in 1989, and up till 1995.

It has been a great honour to play for the West Indies, to hold a bat and to spend 17 years in international cricket. That is something I am proud of.

People point fingers at the leader. That happens in every sport.

I've been part of five World Cups and we reached the semis only in 1996.

I know the history of West Indies cricket and I know what it means to the people.

I've played and I've been a student of the game.

A high-profile player has to toe the line and I try to lead by example. A lot of guys appreciate that, and it is an advantage to have somebody as captain whom the players feel they can look up to; somebody whose door they can knock on to talk about anything on cricket or life.

When you've got an opportunity to try and finish a game on a given day, you try and do that.

I have enjoyed playing in England, and have enjoyed the reception I've got from the people here.

Cricket is my life and it has been since the age of five so the first opportunity I get, I'll be back playing for West Indies.

The World Cup is not a normal one-day series.

I look at Sachin and I see a great player, the kind of person that you would like to follow, but I have my reputation and am happy with the way my career has gone.

It's a great achievement for a 29-year-old to play 100 Tests.

If there's one thing I don't have, it's an insular bone.

I don't play politics.

I played a couple first-class matches at Carlton and Guaracara Park and it was a real burial ground for the fast bowlers.

I've had many ups and downs in my career. I've worked really hard on my game throughout.

Every time I go out into the middle I say I have to give 100 per cent, and I do.

You've to celebrate the good days because there are brutal days that make the good ones sweet.

Practise things you're good at. Keep on top of things you're not so good at, but be world-class at your best. Never think, 'I'm very good at this and that, I can leave those for a bit.'

What do you remember about Jason Robinson? His feet. Not how improved he was under a high ball or his kicking skills. Everyone remembers those feet. He could go round you in a phone box.

If you stop doing a skill you've done for years for any period of time, there's an adjustment period to get it back. In anything you do. Motor skills won't work as fast, because repetition is everything.

Until you win a series, it's difficult to place yourself in that elite group of great Lions players. It's not enough to produce one-off performances or be nearly-men.

There's ego in all of us rugby players.

Timmy Horan was a childhood hero. He was a great distributor, elusive, good stepper, very physical, defensively very sound. What a rounded player.

It's happened a couple of times in training when I hyper-extend my back. Some facet joints send all the muscles in my lower back and lumbar-spine into spasm.

One thing I learnt early on my career is that personal gratification takes second place.

My missus knows to leave me alone.

Just because you lost your last game doesn't mean you change anything.

I used to love looking at a recipe, getting all the bits and pieces in the shops, getting them ready and prepared... I don't really have the time to do that anymore.

I'm fairly adventurous with my eating. I've tried kangaroo, and Moreton Bay bugs, which are a kind of lobster, are so good.

My nutritional knowledge is good enough to figure out what's good, what's bad, and where my leeway is.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.

I found in the past when I did a bit of punditry, I was very conscious of not saying anything negative about people I played against, because players are elephants and they remember when someone says something - I stored things for years and just waited for my opportunity.

A physical therapist does some unbelievable stretching with me.

That's what happens in the world. You get offered superior contracts.

People talk about loyalty of players to clubs. But in the everyday world, you don't see people being loyal to their company when they're getting offered considerably better deals elsewhere.

I'm very happy to have been a one-club man, but I wouldn't shoot down guys who have gone off and played in multiple clubs either because, essentially, it is an earning that people are after.

I would say I thrive in a competitive environment.

I've got my head fixed on the next part of life. I know there will be an adjusting period of just not being a rugby player for a while, and over that period I'll get my head around what the next challenge involves.

Rugby gave me a confidence. I was quite shy and relatively timid, but it gave me the confidence to be a little bit more out-going and back myself a bit more.

The great thing about playing team sport is you win and lose together, and the pain is never as bad when you share it.

I had massive admiration for lots of players. Richard Hill would be up there, along with Martin Johnson.

As you get older, the defeats become more painful. They definitely hurt more.

Rugby takes its toll.

For me, it took five years to understand what professionalism meant. But I'm more settled now. I'm married, life changes, and I've been lucky in managing my injuries.