He Said, He Said

"The system that is being reviewed at the moment around the country, what are they reviewing? The first thing they should be reviewing is the selectors and the selection process and I'd start with the chairman of selectors."  Michael Slater


"Let's see some youngsters in there. Don't hang on to the older guys in there, say 'we're in transition, give us a bit of time', but have 35 or 37-year-olds still playing Test cricket or one-day cricket. Get them in there, to get some experience and say 'we're in transition'." Shane Warne


''You have got to have experienced people and mix them with youth if you want to reconstruct a team. We were fortunate to have two openers who were doing better than anyone else in the world, and that makes life a lot easier for those below them." Bob Simpson

"I was in the middle of a fitness test, saw the phone ringing and saw who it was and thought 'Damn, I better answer this. I knew full well what it was, I didn't want him to have the luxury of leaving a message, so I grabbed it. It's funny, I have been treated like this before by them. I have been down this path a number of times." Simon Katich on receiving the call from Andrew Hilditch


"He's one of the finest quality players, both as a player and a human being, that we have in our system, so to lose him from our system would be a bad outcome for Australian cricket." Paul Marsh President of the players association


"So it was a big decision, obviously really hard on Simon, but in our view the opening partnership is critical, it takes time to get a good opening partnership and we think now the time is right to make sure we have the right opening partnership come the Ashes." Andrew Hilditch, unaware apparently of the adage, "if it ain't broke ..."


"When you make a scene like that, you're thinking, 'Oh no, what are people going to say?' It didn't look good, obviously, and I'd just been run out, but people were putting two and two together and coming up with five, seven, nine and 10." Matt Prior, Maths Professor


"Age is never an issue. I will be 42. So long as fitness and form is maintained, player burn-out is managed properly, there is scope for seniors like myself to represent the country." Sanath Jayasuriya, not in Australia mate.


"I've always found it's very difficult to have part-time people - albeit well-meaning people who understand the game - being involved in full-time sport. I think that's a bit of an anachronism."  John Buchanan, on selection panels


Meanwhile, Martin Crowe is making a comeback to first class cricket at age 48 ...


"I'll just keep doing it until someone wants me to stop." Andrew Hilditch. Makes you want to be a someone doesn't it?


"My wife has actually told a number of people that in Harare she felt just as safe as she would have in Adelaide." Jason Gillespie on touring Zimbabwe ... a comment on Harare or Adelaide?


"Match fixing in any sport in Australia will be made an offence, punishable by up to 10 years in prison." Mark Habib ... beats waiting for them to fly into a mountain.


"We always knew he was going to score runs at some stage, and we hope this is the catalyst to go and have a purple patch like Alastair Cook's having." Andrew Strauss on KP