Quite a few Pakistani players used to drink maybe three or four years ago but now the team is more religious and alcohol is never allowed.

Azhar Mahmood on Pakistan's new approach

I hope it will be quick - that will turn me on. I enjoy pace.

AB de Villiers hopes for a pacy pitch for the first Test at Perth

We don't want cricket being reduced to a level where it turns into a hooligans' sport and the spirit of the game is eroded. We can't have a situation like we see in football.

ICC president Ehsan Mani shows he is not a great supporter of the beautiful game

They might need one by the time we've finished with them.

Shane Warne approves of South Africa's plans to fly a psychologist from Johannesburg to motivate the players before the first Test at Perth

I am against the ICC. The reason is it's run by all the goras [whites].

Wasim Akram makes a comment that would get others in deep trouble. It also ignores the way the ICC is made up. Aside from that, nothing controversial

Life without sport is like life without underpants.

Life according to Billy "Y-front" Bowden

Apples being thrown at your head is something we don't want to happen in cricket.

Brett Lee states the bleeding obvious

If you're playing a big match you shouldn't be breaking your sleep. Do they not regard Pakistan as a threat? I'm sure the players will all put their hands up and say it didn't affect them, but how the hell do they know? The two guys who went to bed and had eight hours sleep batted very well."

Geoff Boycott on the wisdom of Andrew Flintoff getting up at 3am to accept the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. Hours later Flintoff made 0 against Pakistan

I am amazed that the ICC sees fit to warn players, and even past players, in the media. If there are genuine concerns that players may offend the spirit of the game then this should be taken up with them directly and not in the form of a public lecture."

The CEO of the South African Cricketers' Association, Tony Irish, joins in the backlash against the ICC

It isn't quite monotonous.

Waqar Younis retains a degree of diplomacy when asked about the chanting of the Barmy Army at Lahore

You see the way Gilly throws the ball in the air. He tends to play on his walking, his honesty, but he still tries to burgle anyone and everyone.

Former New Zealand opener Mark Richardson on Adam Gilchrist

Daryl Harper - hopeless, Billy Bowden - a showpony,. Steve Bucknor - past his sell-by date.

Former England captain turned pundit Bob Willis slams the ICC's elite umpires

I always viewed him as a once-in-20 games bowler.

Arjuna Ranatunga offers his frank views on Ajit Agarkar

We're the new Surrey.

Paul Collingwood is delighted that Durham have three players in the England team

There is no one to play the village idiot as Darren Gough used to do ... but I've got a Playstation and loads of DVDs. Between us, we've got about 300 different films and documentaries, so there's no need to watch any repeats.

Marcus Trescothick on the delights of touring

Shoaib, leave the chicken man alone, and start your practice.

Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer to Shoaib Akhtar as he chatted to Kevin Pietersen

I won't be clambering down any chimneys as Santa or ice-skating in Norway this Christmas.

Ashley Giles explains the limitations his hip surgery has imposed on him. But does this mean that he does climb down chimneys every other Christmas?

We are told, nonetheless, that it is a done deal, that to unravel it would cost millions. This is spin of a type that Ashley Giles could only dream of.

David Brook, who is leading the campaign to ditch the ECB deal with subscription channel BSkyB and restore English cricket to free-to-air stations

A player hesitates over a decision on TV and gets fined, or has a bat logo too large and gets the same treatment. A whole nation's cricket fraternity is about to collapse, and because of some weird rule in the constitution, it cannot get involved.

Henry Olonga on the (in)action of the ICC over Zimbabwe's internal battle

If there is one England player who can claim to be Botham's heir, it is Kevin Pietersen, the team peacock, as much of a fashion victim now as Botham was 20 years ago. Botham never attempted the dead skunk look, but his hair and sense of dress have made some other drastic turns.

Patrick Kidd on the fashion sense of Ian Botham

The left index finger was raised slowly, but more hesitantly than usual, in answer to the familiar war dance the Australians describe as an appeal.

Tony Cozier on the controversial dismissal of Brian Lara in the second innings of the second Test at Hobart

I like Sourav's arrogance. I don't like him begging for a place. He should stand tall and perform consistently to get back into the team. That is the Sourav Ganguly I know.

Kapil Dev has some advice for Sourav Ganguly

I would pay good money to watch him bat when I retire from coaching.

Bob Woolmer joins the Shahid Afridi fan club after his batting assault at Faisalabad

People have said it must be disappointing to be involved in some one-sided Test wins after the excitement of the series in England, but I'm not sure I'll ever be disappointed about not being involved in a competitive series after the Ashes experience.

Ricky Ponting admits to liking that winning feeling

No foreplay, little titillation. Just wham, bam, thank you ma'am and not even time for a post-coital cigarette.

Charles Happell on the crammed 2006-07 Ashes schedule

It is difficult to see how they can make rational decisions on cricket when they see so little of the game outside of the lavishly catered internationals.

Former South African board chairman Ray White on the lack of regional administrators watching the top-of-the-table clash between Highveld Lions and the Cape Cobras

I told my boys that I have kept my record of losing finals intact.

Sourav Ganguly lets out a wry smile after East Zone lose in the Duleep Trophy final

Martin Luther King had a dream. I have a nightmare. It involves watching the end of the next Ashes sitting in London Cricket Unit No. 2, surrounded by City boys on the jolly, sipping a lukewarm £6 pot of ICC beer-style beverage ... it's another example of the ICC's attempt to 'own' every aspect of world cricket.