Alastair Cook Quotes

I now have a better understanding of my game than what it was in 2013 in my first year in Test cricket.

For me to be a better player, I need to play more games, and having a gaffer I know has great trust in me gives me the confidence I need to help me improve my game.

Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.

If someone thinks, 'I'll spend the off season working on my fitness and I'll come back a better cricketer,' I don't think that's enough. You need to spend a lot of time working on your skills and honing your skills.

My mental strength was definitely a weakness back in the karting days, and I've worked hard on that to be as ready as possible for whenever I had the chance in F1.

I want to get more confident with each game.

Obviously, I have to continue to get better with the mental part of the game.

As a cricketer, you need to keep moving and learning every day.

For me, that's the biggest thing, if something holds me back it's my mental game so I really tried to focus on that and just worked on that.

I feel like I have built different aspects of my game, not just scoring goals.

If you have the quality, you can only improve as a young player through match practice. That seems obvious, and it's proven to be true in my case.

You can never stop learning in football and I'm always trying to take little things on board that other players do.

No matter how good you are, your mentality has got to be right. A lot of young players, that's where they go wrong, and that's what I've always seen when I was growing up - players who are almost there but couldn't quite get there because the mentality wasn't right.

I wanted to become a well-rounded player.

I remember how I, too, was part of the Azlan Shah tournament for the first time in 2005. After that, I went to the Junior World Cup. I remember how much I benefited from the exposure.

When I came to Chelsea from West Ham there were certain parts of my game I felt I needed to improve and I like to think now that I have shown dramatic improvement.

The more mental strength you have, the better. If you look at some of the best players that we have seen over the years and that I have been playing with, mentally they are the best competitors as well, something I have worked hard on.

I think a big part of success in football is mental, not physical. How you are inside your head matters more.

I think there is no better way for our players to improve and learn to perform under pressure than playing regularly with India.

The biggest thing for Asian players to remember is the football style is different in Europe - as is the culture - so they have to accept that. Mentally, they need to be ready and very strong.

Our mind is the most valuable possession that we have. The quality of our lives is, and will be, a reflection of how well we develop, train, and utilize this precious gift.

By removing the obstacles that have built up over time, you can grow your brain from baseline to super brain.

We should cultivate the optimistic temperament, and endeavour to see the good that dwells in everything. If we sit down and lament over the imperfection of our bodies and our minds, we profit nothing; it is the heroic endeavour to subdue adverse circumstances that carries our spirit upward.

I still have a lot of room for improvement. I need to become a more skilled player.

Previously I always thought it was just tactical and technique, but every match has become almost mental and physical - I try to push myself to move well. I try to push myself not to get upset and stay positive, and that's what my biggest improvement is over all those years. Under pressure I can see things very clear.