Alastair Cook Quotes

Finishing is one of the most difficult things to do in cricket. A player can't be a finisher in just 6 months or one year. You have to be used to that responsibility, keeping on doing what is required from you over a period of time.

I would have prepared differently before big matches but I wouldn't change my life.

It's all fun and games when you're scoring goals but there will be a time when I'm not and I just have to try and keep doing the same things. Hit the target and, you know, see what happens at the end of the game.

Don’t let a first-set victory lead into a second-set slump

Bowlers have to accept they will go for runs sometimes.

The thing about Champions League football is it can turn on an instant. You can have a very good, solid team over the course of the season, but the Champions League is more like the World Cup, where your fate can be decided in a second and you need a bit of luck too.

In the league, if you have a bad spell, then you are running behind.

The first time I played Test cricket, I did OK because I had no real expectations, I was just going to enjoy it. Then I lost that.

If you score runs against an international attack, the self-belief automatically increases.

I just have to take it race by race, focus on what you can do, and the rest is out of your control.

I've opened throughout most of my career at Worcester. I understand there are guys in the team who have opened for a long time, more than me, with better records than me.

As a footballer, everything you've achieved can easily be lost, and then you are nobody. That's just how life is, and that's why you shouldn't let things get you down. That's the reason I treat every match like a final.

When you are not scoring runs for the last two-three games, then you need to get that form back; preparation is the best thing to do.

It was a big surprise for me when they asked me to bat at three. That is a big thing. I was focussed on playing the situation. You need to be open anyway if you are playing for a team like India.

Sometimes what happens is you're not getting wickets; you're going for runs. You just want to get away.

There are different pressures when you come to a club like Liverpool. You have to perform well each week, or people start to question you, and I discovered that as soon as I got here. It was a difficult time, but I hope I got stronger from coping with it.

If you're in big-time situations all the time - like for me, high school was big-time situations, college, big time situations - you adapt.

It's the same thing as a competitor with anything whether it be a play, an injury, a distraction. You just put it behind you, you take the situation for what it is and you control what you control and the people that do that the best are usually the more successful team, person, individual, what have you.

Football is quite easy when you're doing well and winning games. It's when things aren't so good and they get tough, that's when the character and attitude stand up.

I look at Rafa Benitez in his time at Liverpool, he had difficult periods and the same goes for Brendan Rodgers in the same job now. These difficult periods come and you have to accept that. I did as well as I could at Newcastle.

I have to accept challenges wherever I play. Be it, India, U-19, state of T20 Leagues, I have to accept the challenges the same way I do when I play for India.

When I look back at my first few seasons in the NBA, we didn't dominate as a team. There were a lot of nights where we took a beating and got whacked across the head. But we got better along the way, and we started to taste the success. With that came the pressure and expectations to be successful.

Young guys in this league don't understand urgency. These guys don't understand that you never know what the league brings, the times may bring. I think they do understand what it takes to win here, and they continue to learn that.

Whether I lead or not, as a top order batsman I feel people expect a lot from me. I also expect that I do get runs and justify my place in the side as a top order batsman.

For me, the most important thing is that I adapt quickly to different conditions and be consistent.