Quotes from Alastair Cook

In the end, playing for England means very little if you don't see the rest of the world around you. It is why I hate prima donnas and arrogance.

Everyone has technical flaws - no matter how many runs you score.

Everyone has technical issues - you have them until you die - but you have to be aware of them in a certain way.

If someone taps me on the shoulder and tells me they don't want me to open the batting for England, it's going to hurt.

IPL does not allow Pakistani players because they are dangerous.

I was never going to be the best player the world has ever seen but one thing I can be proud of is that I genuinely believe I have become the best player that I could have become.

The England captaincy job, after 50-odd games, has found out what kind of leader I am in terms of a person. It's made me feel far more confident in terms of talking to a group in any situation. But it has taken me a long time to feel like I've been doing it naturally.

That is one of the great things about Test cricket, the ball. Sometimes it swings conventionally, sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it reverses.

It's surreal to think that no one has played as many Test matches for England. I suppose it's a credit to my longevity.

If you play 100-odd Test matches, there's going to be little periods when you don't score runs, and I've always managed to turn it around.

The atmosphere and the first days of Test matches against Australia are incredible.

The stats suggest that I'm not a dasher. It doesn't mean I can't play the shots, but when you find a method in four-day and Test cricket that works for you, you stick with it.

I am much more happy in a country pub with 10 blokes having a pint than going to a night club.

Franchise cricket is here to stay because of the money.

In a normal series you can have a couple of bad games and still win it.

The most important opinions to me are those that belong to the guys in the changing room.

In international cricket you have to thrive on the big stage, you have to deal with the media and the pressure.

Throughout my career I have done it my way and used my stubborn streak. I thought the best way to captain was to shut out all the noise - I did it with my batting and thought 'that has served me well, so why change it?'

I am hugely honoured and proud to be receiving a knighthood.

I always found one-day cricket a lot harder. I had to change my game.

Many people have helped me during my career and without them and fantastic team-mates and coaches it would not have been possible to achieve all that I have.

Alex Hales has tightened up his game from South Africa and learned about Test cricket. It's great when you see someone who doesn't quite nail it, but goes away and works away at it, come back a person who understands more about Test cricket.

When I was made captain, one of my things was that whatever happens in those four years, you don't want to make major changes just before a World Cup. We'd done it before, and it never worked.

You're there to score runs. If you don't do that over a period of time, people will look elsewhere. That hasn't changed and that'll never change, whether it's myself or Jimmy Anderson, you've got to play to a certain level to be picked for England or even Essex.