CRICKET WORLD CUP: Quote of the day (From Lancashire Telegraph)

CRICKET WORLD CUP: Quote of the day

8:30am Thursday 31st March 2011 in International cricket

This is rubbish from Anderson. We talk him up when he is bowling well but this is tripe.
Geoff Boycott gives his take on Jimmy Anderson as England struggled in the field against Holland

Just to clarify that the television was not hit by me or my cricket bat at all, it was hit by my gloves/box while I tried to put in into my cricket kit. There was a small damage to the TV and it was reported to the team manager straight away.
Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting puts his side of TV-gate over after being reprimanded by tournament organisers.

We have got to a few finals but not won it. But that is in the past - and since Andy Flower took over, we have been changing the history of English cricket.
England's Stuart Broad wants to be a history boy.

It's not hard to work out where we lost this game. We let ourselves down with the bat.
Ireland skipper Williams Porterfield is honest after his men lost their opener to Bangladesh by 27 runs.

Andrew batted very well and it seemed at one time they would chase the score in 48 or 49 overs.
Zaheer Khan pays tribute to Andrew Strauss as the England captain's magnificent 158 helped secure a thrilling tie in their World Cup match in Bangalore.

It's quite a laughable story. It's a joke. It's not a case of spot-fixing. We just got off the mark a bit slowly.
Aussie wicket-keeper Brad Haddin laughs off claims of spot fixing in the win over Zimbabwe

Jimmy will be disappointed with his performance. But obviously he's a quality bowler, and we know he can bounce back from that.
England's Tim Bresnan backs James Anderson to recover from his tough time with the ball against India.

They always want to see us get one over on the English, so I'm sure there'll be plenty watching back home hoping for a positive result.
Ireland skipper Will Porterfield is in the mood for the clash with England.

That's a long way the best innings I've ever played. It even eclipses playing in the back garden with (brother) Niall, where hitting it out of the garden was out.
Ireland hero Kevion O'Brien reflects on his record breaking ton, the fastest in World Cup history, to beat England

I'll take that - a World Cup 100 off 50 balls in front of a billion people under lights against England.
O'Brien again

We knew they had some dangerous hitters in the back-end of their order - but with the rate climbing as much as it was, it seemed if we could stay patient we would pick up wickets.
England skipper Andrew Strauss is shell shocked at the result

A lot of guys were peed off, and rightly so. We got ourselves into a position where the opposition were 110 for five, with 20 overs to go. That's a game an international team of the calibre that we feel we are should win 10 out of 10.
Graeme Swann reflects the feelings of a nation as England are shocked by Ireland

We're looking forward to playing England on Sunday. We're enjoying ourselves so far on this trip.
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith relishes the prospect of a clash with England

This is some b*******. Bangladesh stoning our bus! This is c***, I can't believe it, what next bullets?
West Indies skipper Chris Gayle is anything but impressed as the team bus is bricked after their win over hosts Bangladesh.

We batted poorly and booing is acceptable.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan refused to criticise fans for booing the Bangladesh side after they were dismissed for 58 and lost their World Cup Group B match against West Indies.

He did very well in the warm-up games but then bowled on that Bangalore wicket, which was tough.
Andrew Strauss hails Stuart Broad for his stunning efforts with the ball in the win over South Africa

I had a bit of luck early on, even when I was at 30 or 40, but the way Nathan McCullum and Jake (Oram) came out and hit showed me the way to play. In the end we had a pleasing result.
Kiwi Ross Taylor plays down his sensational 131 as New Zealand smashed 100 from the final five overs in their win over Pakistan

I have no excuse. We didn't bowl well, we didn't field well. That means you can't win.
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi is somewhat less impressed with the game.

The only two cricketers who underwent the test included Chamara Silva and Ajantha Mendis. These are all rubbish going around the media here. These are all false reports.
Sri Lanka team manager Brian Thomas strongly denies reports that opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan has failed a drugs test at the World Cup.

There are still quite a few areas where we need to improve. In fielding of course, we've been quite consistent, even though we may not be the most brilliant side. But in our batting, the lower order should not have been called in to finish the game.
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni urged his side to continue improving despite their win over Holland.

I go out there and do my best. This innings is for the people who have supported me.
West Indian Kieron Pollard after his stunning 94 helped his side to a win over Ireland

Graeme Swann couldn't grip the ball at all. I think there's something not quite right if a spinner can't grip the ball in this part of the world, where spin plays such an important role.
Andrew Strauss says life was tough for his star spinner in the shock defeat to Bangladesh.

When they put 225 runs on the board we thought we had a very good chance - because we knew there would be dew and we knew it would be hard for them to bowl. There were some silly mistakes, like two run-outs, that could have cost us the game. Luckily they didn't.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan is delighted with a good day and night's work.

I forgot the cricket was on - happen as well.
Andrew Flintoff gives his verdict on Twitter

Whatever England's best performance has been in this World Cup - and that is hard to gauge given their level of inconsistency - they were well below it in Chittagong and deserved to lose to a spirited Bangladesh.
The BBCs Jonathan Agnew pulls no punches in his verdict.

Our performance hasn't dropped off; we've just been very inconsistent, which is not something we want to be making a habit of. Clearly we need consistency from now on if we want to progress in the tournament.
England skipper Strauss in a more reflective mood.

We were speechless.
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith says the dramatic win over India was special - and left the dressing room quiet.

There aren't many times in your career where you can say if you win four games on the trot you can win a World Cup.
England's Paul Collingwood is excited about his side's prospects.

There was a bit of rust on the team I think. With the batting, we got 320 but the fielders were a bit rusty as you can probably expect after 16 days of not much cricket.
Ricky Ponting is happy Australia got past Kenya

Four years ago, no one gave us a chance when we were going out against Pakistan. We're obviously going to play South Africa, who are one of the favourites, but we've been playing some good cricket, so there's no reason we can't go out there and win two games and leave everything on the pitch. We have to play with freedom and come hard at them.
Ireland captain William Porterfield is confident of his side being mentally tough enough to beat World Cup giants South Africa

When you come to India you always hear about Eden Gardens, a bit like when you are in England and people talk about Lord's.
Porterfield is also excited about the prospect of playing at Eden Gardens

There's no point dwelling on the two games we've lost, that we should have won from the situation we got ourselves in.
Graeme Swann believes England will bounce back against West Indies

As a cricketer, it is important to be able to learn all the time and not stand still.
Batsman Jonathan Trott says England must learn from every aspect of their World Cup campaign.

A lot of the games have come down to last 10 overs. We've put ourselves in winning positions, which is what we'll take from this tournament.
Ireland captain William Porterfield reflects on the efforts of the men in green.

I'm feeling very well now. I was laid low the night before last and yesterday morning. Graeme Swann is recovering well and should be practising today. I don't know if he is quite as buoyant as I am, but we're still very confident he'll be fine for tomorrow.
Andrew Strauss plays down illness concerns ahead of the must-win game against West Indies

You can't give a good performance unless your relaxed.. Golf, Batting or sex.
Geoffrey Boycott gives his take on England

Bresnan hit out of the attack from both ends by the 11th over. Got to be a first.
Michael Vaughan is less than impressed by Tim Bresnan as the West Indies pile on the pain.

I had given that up for dead to be honest.
Graeme Swann smiles after England won their do-or-die match with West Indies by 18 runs

We haven't played as well as we would like. We have pulled out results when needed, but now we must wait on other results - hopefully were have done enough to progress.
Andrew Strauss admits England's World Cup future is out of their hands - but better than it was.

I was quite happy chasing 243, although we could have restricted them for less. We should have chased down the target.
West Indies skipper Darren Sammy lamented his side's failure to chase down England's 243 all out in one of the most dramatic World Cup games ever.

We haven't been consistent - there's no getting away from that. We'd love more consistent and dominant performances.
England coach Andy Flower admits his men have to improve ahead of the knock-out stages

I don't think any team is weak in this competition.
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi admits the World Cup is full of quality.

Robbie (Peterson) has been playing really well for a while now. He is coming into his own now. The bowling unit is bowling really well.
South Africa skipper Graeme Smith hails the impact of former Nelson pro Robin Peterson

There have been ups and downs but I've enjoyed every moment. I represented my country with a lot of pride and that was the case whenever I went out to play.
Kenya skipper Steve Tikolo bows out fo international cricket.

They are a very good side, they play tough cricket and also are quite expressive on the pitch. We'll give our best and it's not about the result, the process is important.
India captain MS Dhoni is ready for Australia.

We're pretty excited about playing Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's a big challenge. But we've had success there in the recent past, and we hope we can do it again.

England batsman Ian Bell says the quarter-final with Sri Lanka is one to savour.

Jimmy has found it a little difficult but I don't think tiredness is a factor. India and Bangladesh are very difficult places to play cricket, you don't get too much with the ball. All it takes is one game for him to turn it around.
Ajmal Shahzad backs James Anderson to find his form ahead of England's quarter-final.

Nothing's changed for me in the past 12 months. I've said all along, every time I've been asked about retirement, I'm enjoying my cricket as much as ever. I've never, ever thought about retirement or where the finish line might be.
Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting insists retirement is not on the horizon.

I would like to wish the squad all the very best ahead of the game on Saturday. I would appreciate some privacy over the coming weeks while I spend time with family and close friends ahead of what I hope will be a successful season for Sussex.
England's Michael Yard as he left the World Cup suffering from depression.

It doesn't really get better than an India v Pakistan semi-final in the sub-continent.
India skipper MS Dhoni looks forward to a semi-final with arch rivals Pakistan.

I am not quitting one-day cricket but this is probably my last World Cup game. I will be happy to look back after retirement that I made a century in my last innings in the World Cup.
Australia skipper Ricky Ponting admits time is catching up on him after his side lost their quarter-final to India.

It's very difficult to explain how I feel, I've got no words to describe it. We can only look at ourselves, we've let ourselves down, but I think all credit to New Zealand.
Graeme Smith, whose career in one-day internationals was ended with defeat, reflects on the pain of South Africa's exit to New Zealand.

We can beat any team on any day but consistency has avoided us a lot of the time. It's our big chance. We're perennial semi-finalists at World Cups and hopefully we can take it one step further.
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori wants to keep the Black Caps focused.

We thought it was a good toss to win, but we also knew it was a flat pitch and that 260 to 270 was a par score. We knew our batting performance was under par.
Andrew Strauss reflects on England's departure from the competition - the 10 wicket hammering at the hands of Sri Lanka.

I think England are still a great side, actually one of the best balanced sides in the tournament.
Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara says his men had to dig deep to beat England.

It will be sad to step down, but I look forward to carrying on playing.
New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori reflects on his departure from the World Cup.

They are going to be very tough, particularly their bowling unit if they all click.
Vettori hands his backing to Sri Lanka.

I never had any doubt, because I always thought we were going to win.
Sri Lanka hero Angelo Mathews after steering his side into the final.

Going back to Mumbai for this event is a wonderful occasion.
Sachin Tendulkar looks forward to a return to his hometown in the World Cup final.

I want to congratulate the Indian cricket team and all the Indian nation for this great victory and wish them well for the final.
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi is humble in defeat to arch-rivals India.