10 February - Paarl - England Captain Heather Knight pre-match press conference
[Reporter]
Heather, you took a bit of a knock in one of the warm-up games. Everything OK there?
[Heather]
Yeah, it's all good. Eating was a bit tricky for a couple of days. Six stitches and a bit of glue patched me up. So luckily all my teeth are intact, which is nice. But yeah, feeling good. Just one of those things, a little bit annoying, but yeah, all good to go tomorrow.
[Reporter]
That's good. So, you've got a number of players here that are playing their first World Cup. What's been your advice to those, all those younger, younger girls?
[Heather]
Firstly, just really excited for them. And I think going into the first World Cup, I think it's… the message is to play, how you've been playing, have the same mentality, the same fearlessness. I think the younger players have brought to this group and just not have too much expectation on yourself. I think you can, as a young player, be desperate to announce yourself on the world stage, to put in performances, obviously, in front of the world. So, I think continuing how you've done things as a young player is really important, not to put too much pressure on yourself.
[Reporter]
It's also John Lewis's first World Cup. How's he feeling?
[Heather]
Oh, he is pretty cool, isn't he? He doesn't give too much away in terms of how he's feeling, but I think he's excited. I don't know if he's been involved in the men's side, actually. I think he's involved in the World Cup as a player. So, he's obviously got those experiences to bring on, but no, still in good form, still playing his golf, still being normal Lewis. So, I don't think he's showing too much pressure. He's feeling it.
[Reporter]
And how is Alice Capsey's shoulder holding up?
[Heather]
Yeah, Good to go. Good
[Reporter]
Thinking back – it was a different format, the Cricket World Cup last year, you guys got off to a slow start with the way the format was, you were able to kind of catch up and obviously make the final. Has there been much chat in regards to hitting the ground running here in South Africa, knowing that the format is a little bit more sort of relentless?
[Heather]
Yeah, slow start would probably be a nice way to put that in that World Cup. But yeah, of course, like T20 World Cups we've learned previously, you don't have a lot of time to make any slip ups. And obviously, we didn't start particularly fast in that last World Cup in Australia. So yeah, it's been a key focus for us all the time. Actually, any series that we start, we want to really start fast, hit the ground running and really almost get over the top in how I want to do things and our mentality. So yeah, we've certainly talked about that, having a clear plan about how we want to do things and just going out and doing it and being really brave with it.
[Reporter]
And in terms of your opponents, there's been a bit of a turnover in players. What's it been like kind of studying maybe a new group of players, some who have come from the Under-19 World Cup as well. What's that been like?
[Heather]
Yeah, we've obviously played against West Indies a lot recently in that five-match series. And they've added a few players that have been injured obviously coming back. And I think it's really important that we don't think too much about that five-match series. It could potentially, I think this is quite a tough game for us because obviously we've had a lot of success against them recently. So, we have to see it as a completely fresh game, a couple of young players coming in. But I think the main thing that we're going to do is do things how we want to do it. Obviously, we have slightly different plans for different players, but I think our mentality wants to be about doing what we do best and then shifting slightly if we need to. So that's certainly how we're looking to go about it.
[Reporter]
Given, I suppose, you guys are still a bit of an unknown quantity going in, does that maybe give you an edge given you guys are still trying to find your ceiling?
[Heather]
I don't know, really. I think we've got a really nice blend of youth and experience and that's a really good place to be in my experience of World Cups. You have that sort of freshness, excitement and fearlessness of the young players, but also tournament cricket, you want those experienced players that know how to win matches and know what it's like. So, I think we have a really nice blend there. And the way we've done things, I think in the last couple of months has been with real clarity and real direction with how we want to do things. So, yes, I'm really excited to see how we go and just want to get out there on the pitch tomorrow.
[Reporter]
Obviously, you clean swept the West Indies a few months ago, but as has been mentioned, they've got a few of the big players back, so I suppose there'll be more of a tougher proposition and you guys are ready and focused, especially at the start of the World Cup, like you say, ready to hit the ground running.
[Heather]
Yes, definitely. They're a dangerous side on their day. And I think if we can start really well against them and try and bring back memories of the tour in the West Indies, that's going to be really important. But we certainly won't be underestimating them. We obviously lost to them in the 50th World Cup last year in 2022. So, we know how good they can be. And when they get on a bit of a roll, they can really be up and about. So, for us, it's trying to keep them quiet, get on top early and just continue the things that we did in the West Indies really well.
[Reporter]
And just lastly, that has already been touched on, and you mentioned it yourself, the last T20 World Cup, what happened? I mean, how instructive is that going into this tournament, given what happened in the knockout rounds in 2020?
[Heather]
We've got a reserve day, which is great, and I can't see a cloud in the sky currently, so hopefully we'll be OK, I think.
[Reporter]
Your first game is against Ireland, obviously an emerging side, have some good results, particularly their victory over Australia there. So that's going to be an interesting first game in what's going to be a fairly tight pool group.
[Heather]
Yeah, they're our second game, actually. But yeah, excited to play against Ireland. It's good for cricket in the UK that they're - sorry, not in the UK, good for Irish cricket that they're here. Obviously, they've been missed out on the last T20 World Cup and played against a few of their girls. Gaby Lewis obviously played a little bit in the 100 and things and watched a little bit of their game, back into the game against Sri Lanka, and they look like they had some really decent lower-order batters as well, which I think has been an improvement. So, yeah, certainly won't be taking them lightly. Obviously, with their result the other day, it'll be a brilliant result for them and they'll be high on confidence. So, yeah, certainly excited to play them. I'm sure it's a bit of a local derby and that will add a bit of spice to it. But, yeah, looking forward to playing against them as well.
[Reporter]
And certainly, from a personal point of view and from your other teammates, there's an awful lot of cricket being played. Obviously, you do want to be part of a World Cup, it's excellent. But does that make it more difficult or is it easier when you go into big tournaments like that, having played so much cricket right throughout the year?
[Heather]
I think it's just part of being an international women's cricketer now. The amount of cricket that we have in the calendar is brilliant. I think, look back to when I started, we were crying out for a load more cricket. So, it's just a different challenge, managing yourself physically and mentally as a player has become even more important as you do play more cricket. And I actually had a bit of a spell out for injury last year as well. So, I probably haven't played as much cricket as most, but I think teams will start a lot faster in tournaments. Having played a lot more cricket, they'll be a lot more used to it. A lot of the teams have been out here for a long time as well, getting used to conditions. So, yes, I certainly think it's a good thing that there's a lot more cricket in the calendar these days.
[Reporter]
Yeah, look, I just wondered, you know, those kind of narrow disappointments that you had in the last two tournaments, obviously getting so close last year and then, of course, the rained off semi, do those kind of moments really drive you to try and go that extra step this time? I mean, having had tasted success, at Lord's as well, do those disappointments actually act as a kind of motivating factor when you go into a tournament like this?
[Heather]
I think they do in training. I think they do in your preparation for tournaments. They give you learnings about how you can be better and drive, certainly for me as an individual, drive how hard I want to work in training and things I want to get better on. But I think in a tournament, it can be a bit unhealthy to kind of have that sort of mentality. I think it's really important to focus on what we do really well, how we want to do things. And obviously, we've got quite a few girls that are at their first World Cup, so they won't have had any experience of that. And I think that's quite a handy thing to have that, hopefully, fearlessness and positiveness because they haven't got any memories of obviously losing in close games or whatever happened at previous World Cups. So, yeah, I think it certainly, me as an individual, has drove me to try and improve and be better. But I think in a World Cup, it's all about focusing on yourself and trying to have your day as much as you can.
[Reporter]
And what are your expectations for this World Cup? I mean, obviously, you want to win it, no doubt, but there are going to be pressures on you because the expectations, I guess, will be so high for you guys, especially in your group and Australia in the group opposite. What are your expectations of yourselves?
[Heather]
I think it's very cliché, but I think you've got to take one step at a time, first game and then next stage just to try and get out of the group. So, yeah, we're not looking too much further ahead of that.
[Reporter]
And just finally from me, is it something that you have to kind of manage, those pressures or those external expectations then to try and stay in the moment? Is that one of your roles as captain, just to kind of keep the girls in the moment?
[Heather]
Definitely, I think in World Cups, there's a hell of a lot of things that go on. There's a lot more media commitments, a lot more scrutiny, a lot more pressure, certainly. And I think the thing I've learned over the years, you have to stay quite tight as a group. You have to stay in your little bubble and really find pockets of time to try and get away and try and take off the pressure. And I think the fact we're able to go out and enjoy South Africa, it's a beautiful country and we get to do a few good things and a lot of friends and family are coming out to support us as well. So, I think that will really help. I think for me, it's the mentality that we've had as a team the last couple of months. The important thing is we really take that into the World Event and under pressure. And it's something we've talked about a lot coming into the competition. And yeah, hopefully we can do that and keep the pressure off.
[Reporter]
My question to you is that do you think the recent development and the news that is coming up of women's IPL, it is a distraction for the team or is the team laser focused to win the second World Cup home?
[Heather]
I think it'd be naive to think it isn't a slight distraction. I think obviously it's on everyone's minds. The draft is going to be on our second game against Ireland. So, I think for us as a group, we had a chat about it this morning actually. And it's just about - like talking about it, I think is a really healthy thing. It doesn't need to be an elephant in the room. I think it's a really positive thing for the game. And it's something we'd have to start getting used to as female cricketers. Obviously, the 100 draft is coming up as well. And it's coming into the game more and more. And how we manage it as individuals is really important. I think us as a group, we're just going to be really open, try and talk about it and just see it as a as a bonus. And I think knowing that each individual player's worth to the England team will not change dependent on what happens. And being prepared that some strange things might happen. I think you look at the first couple of years of the men's IPL and a few strange things happened. So, I think staying really tight as a group and seeing it as a bonus is a really important thing. But I think it's something we're having to get used to as cricketers as the landscape changes a lot and things - more drafts and more options come into the game. So, yes, certainly something that is there. But I guess it's the same for every team to have to try and deal with, with obviously the noise around the auction, things like that.
[Reporter]
Hey, Heather, just following on from that, have you made or is the team made plans for what you're going to do during the auction? Bearing in mind, you've got a game on that day. Like, are you going to sit around together and watch it? What have you decided about managing that?
[Heather]
Well, I think the men's ones lasted for two days, so it could be quite a long viewing session, I think. But we're playing against Ireland on the day. So that's going to be our primary focus. There might be a chance that there's some stuff beforehand and it's just going to be up to individuals to decide whether they want to know or not, basically, and respecting teammates and what they want to do. But once we're at the ground, obviously focus is completely on the game and taking on Ireland on that day.
[Reporter]
What are you going to do?
[Heather]
I haven't decided yet. We'll have to see.
