Top 31 Quotes & Sayings by Geoffrey Boycott

The difference between a score in the 90s and a century is often reflected as the difference between failure and success. It may be illogical, but in cricket, a century has its own magic.

I was not a political animal; I could not toady up to the committee men, pour drinks down their necks at the bar, and make them feel important. I was too focused on the cricket.

During the time I didn't play for England, they were losing Test matches, and the Yorkshire committee were telling me that I should be batting for my country. Then, when I decided to make myself available to play for England again in 1977, and Yorkshire lost a couple of matches in my absence, they criticised me for not being there.

Good scores are valuable, but centuries stick in the mind. There are influential people who might not notice a good innings of 60 or 70, but they will react if you get a hundred.

The contribution of Anthony William Greig to English cricket has been underestimated because of his allegiance to Kerry Packer and his choice to recruit players for World Series Cricket while still the England captain. His critics hold that as a black mark against him, which rules out anything else he may have done.

I don't think anybody can totally change what they are. I'd always been a strident individual, but cancer does smooth off a lot of the edges. I have been lucky to have survived an extra 12 years of my life with my wife and daughter.

I always loved the Yorkshire members and was passionate about playing for the county, but the people who were running the club made it at times unbearable for me. The rulers had a history of doing what they wanted and sacking players seemingly on a whim.

When I was playing the game we never had the benefit of TV or video to analyse our techniques or look at faults, we depended on other cricketers to watch us and then tell us what they thought we were doing wrong.

A lot of wasted energy in my life has been spent on sorting out problems and issues at Yorkshire cricket. Of course, I know I made mistakes along the way, but I care passionately about the club - I always have done and always will.

We've got to get the public back into watching Test matches - speeding up the game with innovation is one way forward.

Once I got cancer of the tongue and throat, I realised that stress is a killer and I had to try and get stress out of my life.

Unlike cricket, where I reached the top solely down to my own efforts, cancer was not a one-man battle. This time, I couldn't have done it on my own. Without the support and bullying encouragement of my wife Rachael, I would not be here now.

I played football for Leeds United under-18s, but at 17 my eyes started to go and I had to wear glasses. The football had to go - there were no contact lenses in 1957.

Throughout Yorkshire's history, the committee had not been known for its visionary approach. They just assumed that because Yorkshire had been fantastic in the past, and the county was full of kids wanting to play cricket, everything would be okay.

My mind became so frazzled by the end of the 1974 season that I decided the thing to do was give up playing for England and concentrate on Yorkshire. I felt the only way to succeed was to captain and play every match for Yorkshire.

'Boycott caused all the trouble,' they say, as if I could have canvassed all those people personally to take a stand in 1983. Nonsense! The committee were the ones with the power to make the decisions, not me. They started the unrest, they did the sackings, and they reaped what they sowed.

I agree that my single-minded approach was a failing in life, but if I upset people, it was never intentional - it was just the unfortunate result of a burning desire to get the best out of myself and achieve as much as possible.

I usually tried to stay in the net for 45 minutes, half an hour longer than most batsmen would stick at the county nets. There was a reason for this so-called gluttony of practice: it was a conscious effort to make myself concentrate for long periods of time in circumstances as close to the real thing as I could make them.

I think England will win a Test. My concern is Australia will probably win two.

Since I had cancer I've realised that every day is a bonus.

Until you've had depression I don't think you're qualified to talk about it.

If Trescothick had tried to get me off the field when batting well, I'd have hit him with my bat.

Emma wasn't bothered about the fact that I was a 'celebrity', held in high esteem by millions of cricket fans around the world. As far as she was concerned, I was just her dad, and she believed that role should take priority over anything else.

I've known people with exceptional talent - and some have wasted it. Ambition spurs a man on.

I'd love to see pitches start very dry all over the world, which is good for batting but means there will be turn - a cricket match without spinners is like a chess match without two important pieces - a less interesting game.

Technically, you can’t fault Jadeja. Seam or spin, fast or slow every goddamn thing is a problem.

(James) Anderson has a gift from the gods: he could swing an orange.

He was a top man and a good professional. He was one of those who you know will never play a trick and you can ask him to do anything for you and he will. An unassuming man and a great loss to us all.

To have some idea what it's like, stand in the outside lane of a motorway, get your mate to drive his car at you at 95 mph and wait until he's 12 yards away, before you decide which way to jump.

Paul Harris is a buffet bowler - you just help yourself.

The Prince of Calcutta. Two of his special qualities are his intelligence and articulation, both of which have helped him immensely in the world of contemporary cricket.