I was a professional cricketer from 16.
In any international sporting career an opportunity comes along that you have to grab. Mine came at Old Trafford in 1985 when I was recalled to the England team to face Australia. It was a huge chance to prove I belonged in the Test side but I failed to take it.
A good commentator is someone who obviously people like listening to, who gets the blend between description, entertainment and accuracy of conveying the event right. If you can do that in an interesting way, you are a good commentator.
We don't cover too many draws in Test cricket and its great: it means the cricket is more interesting, more exciting.
When you are captain at the same time, that's when it gets difficult and when your own game starts to decay because you have other worries and pressures.
With new fast bowlers on the international circuit few and far between, it's always good to see someone new coming through.
Cruising on the old rice boats in Kerala, southern India, with my wife was amazing.
I played in Sri Lanka, so I know how hard it is to come here and win. The weather is baking hot and the conditions are alien to English cricketers.
For me, Test cricket at its best is all about ebb and flow of initiative, and it's always a fascinating moment of the match for me when one sides snatches it from the other.
Virender Sehwag can tear any attack apart. He is audacious, takes risks and has fantastic hand/eye co-ordination.
The truly great players have this advantage over the rest of the international elite, gifted though those others are: they have the ability to slow down a ball travelling at 90mph, to move before others can, to make the world adjust to their rhythm rather than the other way round.
Players like Alastair Cook do not come around very often. To play for so long and achieve so much says everything about his fitness, concentration, discipline and skill.
Opening the batting in Test cricket, facing up to fast bowlers looking to do their worst with a new, hard ball is incredibly tough. You have to be brave, single-minded and prepared to work very, very hard.
The old player in me can certainly sympathise with how your targets change because you simply do not know what is around the corner.
I think most cricket fans would accept that Dravid and Tendulkar are very different individuals but they are both great players.
Indian fans probably warm to Tendulkar more, because he was their darling from a very young age and he is a class above anyone else in his team. But in any other generation Dravid would be there by himself.
Preparation is not just about batting and bowling. You have to consider lots of things - the travel, the weather, the heat, the light, the sounds. You have to be comfortable with everything.
When you think of the great eight-wicket bowling figures in Test history, the names of Michael Holding, Shane Warne and Stuart Broad spring to mind.
This is Test cricket. Being positive is not far away from being reckless. For all that the sport has become more fast-flowing and entertaining, you still need batsmen whose first instinct is to be patient.
The art of coaching is to give a player freedom to bring out his talent. It is the player's responsibility for what happens once they are on the pitch.
