11 February - Paarl - Australia player Ashleigh Gardner post-match press conference
[Reporter]
Well, we talk about you know Australia being so far ahead of the other teams and then tonight kind of rolled New Zealand out for such a low score. Do you think that's illustrative of the gap and if so, how big do you think that gap is?
[Ashleigh]
I think it is and as a group we obviously always speak about that but teams are getting better now and you always have to show up for each match and obviously tonight we were lucky enough to come away with a win or not lucky but we fought hard and I think it just shows where our team's at and how we adapt really quickly and you just have to look at the way that Elyse Perry batted, Allyssa Healey batted. It was a bit of a grind at times and I think they just showed a way to fight back when conditions weren't the easiest and I guess on the flip side with the ball we were just really disciplined and we spoke about at the halfway point just to keep the stumps in play. You see balls either bouncing quite high or staying quite low so that was our simple mindset to have was just keep the stumps in play and fortunate for us we did that tonight and yeah, we were pretty comprehensive out there.
[Reporter]
And then just on conditions you know 170 plus totals aren't chased here that often did you feel that that was perhaps more than enough?
[Ashleigh]
Yeah absolutely, like I mentioned before obviously teams are getting better and 170 on some grounds is definitely achievable but out there the conditions weren't batter friendly. You had to be really calculated in the risk that you took and yeah at the halfway point we were really confident going into that that we had the bowlers to defend that and it showed tonight that we probably adapted a little bit quicker than New Zealand and probably took the more calculated risks when they were on offer.
[Reporter]
What sort of went through your mind when you clinched a T20 World Cup fiver?
[Ashleigh]
It's honestly probably only my second fiver in my whole career so to do it on an international stage I think about probably two or three years ago I didn't bowl a lot in this format and I'm really trying to take that with two hands and every opportunity that I get I guess try and put my team in a winning position but ultimately just try and bowl my best ball over and over again. Today I was lucky enough to take five wickets and certainly something that I'll cherish forever and something that I'm super proud of but ultimately, I was just more happy that we got the win early within this tournament and trying to take that momentum because the last couple of the last World Cup we obviously started with a loss so it's nice to be on the other end and actually going away with a win from the first game.
[Reporter]
What have you made of Elyssa Healy's form since she's come back in off that calf injury and a month and a half off cricket?
[Ashleigh]
Yeah she's been really good, we obviously saw her in that Ireland game she scored pretty freely and then tonight again like I mentioned she took those calculated risks when they were on and I think that's the way that she plays her cricket she plays quite fearlessly and she knows when the moments are right and sometimes you can get away with playing a shot here and there that might not be on but because you've got that positive intent you actually get away with it so I was really pleased for her tonight to score some runs and yeah hopefully that keeps her in good stead for the rest of the tournament.
[Reporter]
You guys as a playing group haven't played in South Africa before so coming here and getting such a good result early how confidence building is that knowing that you guys had to adapt pretty quickly to a new situation - the conditions might be quite similar to Australia but it's a new location it's a different place to sleep at night like what's that been like?
[Ashleigh]
Yeah it's certainly been difficult but in saying that it is our job nowadays and we are used to travelling the world quite a lot but it's certainly been challenging it's obviously been really hot in saying that obviously Australia can get quite hot at times as well but it's been cool because we've had I think 10 or 11 days here so far and being able to adjust to whether it's the conditions, the wickets but also being able to spend some time outside of cricket's been really important for our group just to I guess gel as a team and do things away from cricket is certainly really important in these types of tournaments because you can get quite swept up pretty quickly if you aren't going the way that you would like so trying to stay really positive and yeah play with smiles on our face and just embrace the challenge ahead which can be quite challenging at times.
[Reporter]
Ash, could you tell us a bit about what the approach of the Australian batting line-up is like when there is an early fall of a wicket, as was the case today with Beth Mooney, going for an unusual duck?
[Ashleigh]
I don't think our plan changes, to be honest. Obviously, we bat pretty much down to, I would say, comfortably nine. Obviously, having Alana King come in at nine is pretty handy. So, I think for us, we've always got that freedom that is going to be a really good batter behind us. So, we can play quite fearlessly and play with freedom and I guess not worry about the consequences that we're going to get out because we know that the next person coming in can also change the game. So, to have the confidence within our batters, we know our roles really clearly. And I think that was really evident tonight with Pez coming out and scoring really freely and taking the pressure off the other batter and then Grace Harris coming out with a short cameo kind of really changed the momentum for us and I guess gave us that momentum going into our bowling innings that we did have enough runs on board.
[Reporter]
You have been a very vocal person off the field as well about things you believe in and perhaps, we see a reflection of that confidence, self-confidence on the field as well. How satisfying is this performance against the backdrop of how you made your mind clear about the January 26 fixture and any thoughts against that particular episode, how it panned out and of course this big performance to kick off the defending champions World Cup campaign?
[Ashleigh]
Yeah, I mean, social media has a lot of good things and I knew when posting that statement that there was going to be backlash. I think I underestimated how much I copped and I guess I tried my best not to look at all that stuff but I feel like it's only human nature to read comments and things like that but I guess it was a moment where I stuck to my guns and I put that statement out there because that's what I believed in and yeah, I just had to stick true to what I said and I guess I've just tried to flip that and turn it into a positive and it's sparked conversations. Not everyone's going to agree with everything that people say and that's totally fine but as long as I change some people's minds about certain things, whether it's social issues or not, so I guess trying to take the confidence out of that and the support that I had from my teammates and support staff was huge because it was a couple of dark days there where I was like, why did I do that? But knowing that it was for a good cause and then yeah, just trying to take that confidence with that going into my cricket as well, sticking to my guns with how I play cricket and then I guess how I act off the field as well, trying to keep them pretty close together.
[Reporter]
I've got to ask this since we are just hours away from the big WPL auction day, Ashleigh Gardner has made all the statements that she needed to do with the fifer - you're expecting something big because you go up in the first set, which also has Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, all the big names. What are your expectations from what is going to be quite a ground-breaking day in women's cricket and sport?
[Ashleigh]
To be honest, I've tried to not think about it but I'd be lying if I haven't. I actually dreamt about it the other night, which is quite sad but which is quite funny but that's how much I've been thinking about it, unfortunately, but I think it's a huge moment for women's cricket and to see that the money that's been put into women's cricket over in India to ultimately have that global impact, to have associate players given the opportunity to play in that competition is huge to take back to their homelands. And yeah, for me, it's certainly not about the money side of things, it's being able to go over there and challenge myself in different conditions, playing in India is super challenging and the conditions are challenging with the heat and things like that. But if I get the opportunity to go over there and play in that, I'll certainly be pretty happy with it but my focus right now is on the World Cup and playing for my country and that's kind of a side thing, kind of the elephant in the room for a lot of teams and trying to keep our focus pretty sharply on this World Cup.
[Reporter]
Hi Ash, 48 runs of 18 balls against New Zealand in the ODI World Cup, five wickets today of just 12 runs giving away. What's that special connection with New Zealand you have? Is it some trans-Tasman love that you just love playing against them?
[Ashleigh]
I mean, I'd love to say that that was a thing but I think sometimes it's just your day. Obviously, in the ODI World Cup, straight out of quarantine, there was kind of no pressure on me as I hadn't trained for 10 days and kind of just went out there and ultimately just played my role. I was obviously there in the last, I think it was four or five overs so I had the freedom to go out there and absolutely swing hard and that's what I did. And then for tonight, like I've mentioned before, it was just about keeping the subs in play and to come away with five wickets is something that I'll cherish forever but it's certainly not something that I think about when I play New Zealanders trying to take advantage of their bowling or batting line-up. Thank you. You
[Reporter]
So, my question is, as defending champions, getting off to a winning start and then your next games, looking forward to them, they won't be as much hype as these. This was, I suppose, the most important game that you guys had. So how much confidence does that give the group and how is the camp and the morale after the win?
[Ashleigh]
Yeah, we can certainly take confidence out of tonight's win but like I mentioned earlier, we can't take any team lightly. We found that out the hard way against Ireland. We saw what Sri Lanka is capable of and we know what Bangladesh are capable of as well. They're those teams that you don't play that often until you come to these types of tournaments so sometimes you do underestimate them but then they show you that they are capable of winning games against the best teams so we can certainly take confidence out of tonight's going into the next couple of games but tournament play is really fascinating, T20 cricket is really fascinating. It can change super quickly so we're certainly not taking any team lightly.