h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"When it went off, I heard the moans and cries from the direction where the bomb had gone off, and the carnage you could see from the door I thought we'd copped it. My initial thoughts were that when we only had half the team in the car park we may have lost the other half . That's harrowing, that brings tears down your face. It was one of the scariest moments of my life." - New Zealand cricket captain Stephen Fleming as the tour of Pakistan is ended by terrorism.

"I was still in my bed when my room blew apart." - NZ cricketer Craig McMillan.

"The joke's already come out from the boys about trivia questions in the future: who was selected and never played? They're taking the mickey out of me a bit, but I can't do anything about it and I'm not bothered.' - Kiwi cricketer Scott Styris has his test debut stymied by the bomb in Karachi.

I know I have a duty to win the World Cup. We don't have a culture of coming second in this country. My own son said to me recently, "second place is the first among the last places" - Brazil soccer coach Luiz Felipe Scolari as the World Cup looms.

"I don't believe in heaven and hell. Everyone finds their own peace of mind and I've found mine without turning to religion." - Hard drinking soccer legend George Best contemplates a life-saving liver transplant.

"This will be the garden party of the summer." - Claudia Rosencrantz, controller of entertainment for ITV, on a pre-World Cup party hosted by David Beckham and Victoria "Posh" Spice.