First-Class Cricket Quotes

If a player is playing IPL and earning money, it's not his fault that he's not playing for India. He is not quitting. He is playing first-class, one-day cricket and IPL. If selectors don't pick him, what can he do?

With just about every player in Australia, his whole goal and ambition is to play for Australia. That's why they're playing first class cricket. It's just a different attitude.

I've known Nick Compton a long time. He's a fully-formed cricketer and he's scored lots of runs.

The biggest difference at the Ranji Trophy level is that of the pace you face. You don't get as many quick bowlers at the Under-19 level.

It's not that I don't like cricket. I have played first class cricket and represented Delhi in the Ranji Trophy as a spinner, but at the same time my inclination to become an actor was very strong.

One-day cricket must be taken with equal importance to Test cricket.

Before I made my Test debut, I had played nearly nine years of first-class cricket.

It was only after I made my Duleep Trophy debut did I think I had a realistic chance to play for India. I scored a double hundred, and I realised that I had the potential to play for my country because I played the best bowlers in the country at that time.

Test cricket is the only thing that counts. One-day and T20 performances are fine, but you rate a player by his status as a Test player. By the time I finish, I want to play at least 80 Tests and be known for my achievements in Tests.

Equally, though, there are guys who play England Under 19 who don't even play First Class cricket. It is a watershed in the careers in many ways.

Ranji Trophy is a great experience for youngsters.

I have learned a lot playing in domestic first-class cricket: how to score runs, how to counter situations.

In domestic cricket - whether it is Ranji Trophy or other first class matches - in the first year, not many opponents will know about your game, but by the time you are into the third or fourth year, the opponents would have found out your strengths and weaknesses, and they will work on it.

The year 1989 was crucial for me because I had just moved from the country into Sydney to play first-class cricket. That was the time I heard of a teenager called Sachin Tendulkar, who had burst on to the scene and was being annointed as successor to the great Sunil Gavaskar.