"He never frightened me. I think I might have said ‘I’m going to have a few nightmares tonight’ once and some journalists took it as gospel, but I was never frightened of anyone. And that’s not me being big-headed, I was just confident in my ability. “
"Players like (Brian) Lara and Tendulkar were always a challenge, because they were the best in the business and if you want to compete at that level you’ve got to step up to the mark. Of course some days they’re going to smash you out of the park and you congratulate them afterwards, but you’re going to get them next time," he told.
About the criteria for the numbers, Warne said, "I went on the principle that when I’m watching a sport I want to be entertained. So my number one criteria was entertainment, two was what impact did they have on me as a player, three was the impact they had on the team — could they win a match off their own bat — and then there was their skill and their spirit. “
"I didn’t look at their statistics too much. That wasn’t a guide, because stats can be accurate but misleading. A match-winner can actually have quite a modest average overall. And some players are just better to watch. That’s why I put Mark Waugh above Steve Waugh in the book, because if they were both playing in separate grounds in town on the same day, I know who I’d pay money to watch play."
about the IPL: "The first year was amazing. I’m really looking forward to going back and defending our title. No one can ever take that away from us that we won the inaugural IPL. Off the last ball! What an achievement. It was a fairytale. Especially for all the younger players. “
"I reckon I deserve a lot more now that we won it. The franchise has tripled, maybe quadrupled in price. They’ve got me cheap!"
About Indian food: "The wonderful people of Jaipur now make an amazing margherita pizza. I’ve spoken to the chefs and they’ve got it down pat. So I’m a lucky man. It’s making me hungry thinking about it."
About Anil Kumble, Warne said, "I spoke to him the other day, actually. He’s a very smart man, engineer by trade, and I’m sure, considering everything he’s achieved, there’ll be plenty of doors open to him in India and internationally. I sense he’s weighing up his options. He’s a wonderful human being."
About the “ball of the century”: "Oh, for sure. Mike Gatting’s in ’93 is still probably the best. Umpire Dickie Bird’s was almost as funny. He couldn’t believe what he’d seen either. ‘That was owt, yer’ve gat ta gore.’"
"No chance, mate. My scriptwriter keeps telling me to do it. He says it could be the final chapter. But I said: ‘Mate, you haven’t got any pens left. There are no more scripts. Let’s just let it be’."