12 February - Paarl - England player Sophie Ecclestone pre-match press conference
[Reporter]
Congratulations on the opening day win. Does that fill everybody's nerves, bearing in mind what's happened in previous tournaments?
[Sophie]
Yeah, I think it was a great start to our tournament. I think it was obviously great to get off to a win, sometimes you see the big teams fall in the first game, so it was great to get the first win on the board yesterday and hopefully we can continue that run.
[Reporter]
And how important was it for you personally to make your mark early in the tournament as well with three wickets?
[Sophie]
Yeah, definitely, I think it was great to get three wickets yesterday. I think as a whole we put in a good performance, but there's definitely things we can improve on with the ball and especially in the field too, we can improve in many ways, so hopefully that's the start of our tournament and we can just improve and peak at the right time.
[Reporter]
And how much confidence do you as a team take from the early success with this bold attacking style, especially when it came to the chase yesterday as well?
[Sophie]
Yeah, it was obviously great. I think Nat was obviously amazing for us, obviously that’s why she got the Dell Player of the Year and I think it's amazing for her to show how good she can be and how good she is and hopefully she can continue doing that for us in the tournament in the future.
[Reporter]
You were so sharp in the field yesterday, you had the two run outs, has that been a real focus under John Lewis in the last few months since he's been in charge?
[Sophie]
Yeah, massively, I think you just impose yourself. I think if were critical on ourselves yesterday, I think we've been better in the field as a whole, but I think looking back we were very good yesterday and there are still ways we can improve, but yeah, it's a great start to start a tournament.
[Reporter]
How much do you know about Ireland? They obviously had a successful year in 2022, qualifying for the competition and beating Australia in, albeit a warm-up game, heading into this tournament.
[Sophie]
Yeah, I think obviously they beat Australia in their warm-up game, so they're a force to be reckoned with and we need to take a look at our notes tonight, but yeah, I think we just need to go out there and play our best cricket and play how Lewis wants us to play and that's with freedom, so hopefully we play to our best tomorrow, we'll beat them.
[Reporter]
There was a great moment that was caught on the cameras yesterday, waiting for a review, you and Sarah Glenn smiling at the cameras, you seem to really enjoy being part of this England set-up.
[Sophie]
Yeah, I think it's great, I think it's quite lucky that we all get on so well as a group and I think people say that they get on, but we generally do get on as a whole and it's so great that me and Glenny and Dino are obviously in the team together, three spinners, which is quite nice and we look out for each other and yeah, I think it's all about enjoying yourself, we definitely play better when we're enjoying ourselves, so that's what we try and do.
[Reporter]
And just last couple from me, there is the WPL auction going on tomorrow, how difficult is it going to be to focus, while of course you've got the match to prepare for as well? Yeah, I think it's going to be a really interesting day, I think it's obviously going to be really weird having the IPL auction in the morning, but I think everyone's just focused on our game in the afternoon and I think it's going to be a really exciting day for women's cricket, but yeah, all focus will be on our Ireland game tomorrow.
[Reporter]
And finally, there'll be a lot of interest around you, considering what you've done in the game already, the number one ranked T20 bowler, just what sort of impact do you think that tournament could have on your life if you were to participate?
[Sophie]
I think it's massive, I think I've not, to be honest, I've actually not really thought about it, I think every day on tour is so different and yeah, I think it's just a match day for me and whatever happens tomorrow happens and to be honest, yeah, I'll see what happens when I go and I don't think we'll know what we'll go for or what happens tomorrow because we'll have our game and our phones will go in, but yeah, honestly, we'll just see what happens and go with the flow.
