Good captains know the strengths and weaknesses of their teams and make decisions accordingly.
I try to read spinners and dictate to them, but they know very quickly if you're not reading them or if you're not confident.
I appreciate every batsman in the world for different reasons. If I want someone to tough it out in the middle, I'd pick Steve Waugh. If I want someone who I know is going to have the technique to survive, you want a player like Tendulkar.
I want to be a consistent individual. I want to be someone my team can depend on all the time.
After cricket I'd love to build a family, I'd love to get close to someone and have kids, see them evolve into something special.
I just want that someone in their 50s or 60s, when they talk about Brian Lara, they say 'I enjoyed watching that guy playing cricket.'
When I get to a ripe old age then talk of me as a great cricketer.
This is a moment I will cherish forever... the first man to score 500 runs.
I had some bad influences in my time and, if my parents weren't there to straighten me out, things might have gone haywire.
After accepting the captaincy at the beginning of the 1998 season, I immediately set high but attainable goals for the West Indies cricket team and myself.
Well, I think that I pretty much grew up grow up wanting to represent the West Indies.
When I wasn't doing well, I was too tough on myself but I truly tried to minimise it. So, I would always appreciate the fact that, things are not going to go well all the time.
I fell in love with scoring a lot of runs. I never felt 50 or 100 were enough.
I've played with and against great players. I've been with Viv Richards, Richie Richardson and played against Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jaque Kallis and Virat Kohli is up there with the very best.
My dad made sure he gave me everything, he sacrificed what he had to, to make sure I had what I needed to perform at the best level.
We West Indian cricketers are always proud to play for the West Indies and we know we are made up of different islands and different cultures but we have to be able to mesh together, to come together and perform as a team.
I have been captain in the past and I know what it takes to gel a team and get it going.
Every senior player has to play a part and help the skipper by performing their duties on the field and secondly by performing their duties off the field.
I don't see myself as a father figure but as someone who the younger players can come to and talk to about cricket. Not just batting but cricket in general and I am ready to impart with any information or advice I have.
When I was 21, I did not have that much pressure. I was sitting down on the bench... you know... cleaning Sir Vivian Richards's boots or doing something... getting ready to play international cricket.
