I played with Graham Thorpe and Alec Stewart; if anything off the field affected Graham his cricket life was not important and you had to give him a break. But if Alec had issues at home you would never know about it; he would turn up and think: 'This is my job, I can do it.'
I can't pick up a pair of new gloves like Alec Stewart or Mike Atherton. I have to get them sweaty and loose, and put extra stuff on my gloves to protect the fingers.
Michael Atherton's powers of concentration never cease to amaze me. When you need reminding what Test-match batting is all about, who else would you have at the other end?
I admired Stephen Fleming.
Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting are anything but conventional, and you can't frown on Steve Waugh for playing his slog-sweep because it's so effective.
It was Test cricket as it should be played, when the irresistible force in Allan Donald met the immovable object in Mike Atherton at Trent Bridge in 1998. And I was happy to watch from the best seat in the house - at the other end.
Whether that was in the Chepauk Stadium in Madras or at the Ilford Cricket School, there was a daily diet of cricket run by my dad. It was a hard school but he knew what he was doing. Everything I achieved was down to my dad.
Spinners are a funny breed. If they're playing on seaming pitches they moan and if they're about to play on real 'Bunsen burners' they reckon the pressure is on them.
If you try and cover all your bases, like the ECB tend to do, you end up with muddled decisions.
There is too much cricket being played. You need time away to get your mind in order to reach the optimum level.
Learning how to win comes with switching the onus of pressure away from yourselves and then seizing your moment.
I admire anyone who can show they can dig deep. Ballesteros and Sergio Garcia, people who are obviously mentally strong. Or Graham Thorpe. He is your fighter. He's the kid who is bullied at school but will stand up in a fight when it matters.
