15 March - Tauranga - England player Amy Jones pre-match press conference
Reporter: My question to you is just what the mood in the dressing room is right now? It's not easy to start with three defeats and then a couple of big games to come. Just what's been the discussion like- how was the mood last night after the match?
Amy Jones: Yeah, it's obviously disappointing. With the start that we've had, I think the mood has been obviously pretty low at the end of the games. But I think it's been really good to sort, of like get behind each other, to come together as a group. And we've definitely been able to pick ourselves up before every game so yeah, that'd be no different for India tomorrow.
Reporter: What is the talk around in the England team around improvements in bowling as well as fielding – can you just explain about the bowling and fielding improvements in the group.
Jones: I think obviously, after the West Indies game, we dropped and missed a lot of chances. And so we spoke about that as a group obviously not wanting to put a huge amount of pressure on like the first opportunity that comes in the next game sort of thing and, we just spoke about how we wanted to be really positive, really supportive of each other out there and just do the little things right like obviously like attacking the ball, getting just some good energy going and hoping that the chances will be taken from that, we obviously know our skill level is good enough to take those chances. And then yeah, it was unfortunate that we missed a few again last night, but I think with the games coming so quick. You obviously have to look individually, if there's any sort of quick learnings you can make. But in terms of like the whole team, I think it's just so important that we keep supporting each other. We keep the energy high in the field and this is probably said many times, but we as a team, we do play our best and we're enjoying it. We're supporting each other, having a bit of a laugh. So I think that's the kind of mood we want to create when we go out there tomorrow.
Reporter: Yesterday it was a different you in the middle. Unlike the first two games, regardless of the result, how relieving was it to be among the runs and what did you do differently yesterday?
Jones: Yeah, I think I was obviously - it's obviously good to score some runs, I’ve obviously been quite short of runs recently. So it was a bit of a relief, to be honest. I think I didn't change a huge amount. I think, I've been struggling to rotate the strike early on in the first few games and then sort of putting a bit of unnecessary pressure on myself. But I think - so basically just going into the last game, I was just trying to stay relaxed at the crease. Still trust my timing and not try and force it if there were a few dots. So it was great to get going into my innings and to have that partnership with Tam, Yeah, that was nice.
Reporter: Also, same venue for tomorrow's game. So do you think England have an upper hand given - now you guys have a better understanding of the Oval tomorrow - and the conditions as well?
Jones: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I think I do think it's obviously a benefit to play at the same ground twice. And we'll Yeah, we'll have some learning from that first game. So yeah, I do think that will help. Obviously, we just got to go out there and perform well. Should be a good game. Obviously India, a great side. It's world class players. So it'll definitely be a challenge. But hopefully, yeah, we can take on those learnings and sort of go in with an upper hand maybe.
Reporter: I wanted to ask about someone like Tash – offering a left arm option very rare in the tournament, was been sitting on the sidelines until now, but even the fact that from now on it will be four on four mandatory wins in a row. How do you look at someone like her coming against India with the kind of variation she brings into play?
Jones: Okay, I think Tash is very good bowler and she would be a big threat at the start of an innings against any team. I think, obviously, the demands of a 50-over World Cup are very high on workload wise, for the seamers and the all-rounders, so I think we're very lucky to have such skilled bowlers on the sideline. Obviously I've nothing to do with selection so I have no idea in terms of that but I think just from a teammate point of view, the depth in the squad is very reassuring.
Reporter: India are one of the teams that you've played in the recent past and have done well - won against them. How much of a confidence does that give to the group looking back at the home summer the way you dominated against India?
Jones: Yeah, I think it definitely gives confidence obviously, you know, when you play any team, it's quite natural to sort of look back in the last games that you've played against them. And so to have that fairly recent success against them, I think as a group will definitely give us confidence.
Reporter: My question is - you have been away from the home for around 70 days now since the Ashes and the World Cup and you've been a part of the bubble and biosecurity environment and my question is, do you think that the England team has been away from home - Amongst the teams that are playing you're away from home for a very long time? Do you think that has something to do with the - because you've played close matches, is this something to do with that - quarantine stuff as well?
Jones: I think it's definitely been a challenge. It's been a challenge for many of the other teams as well. So I definitely don't think it's a reason for our losses. I think it's not a helpful factor when you are losing to them, you know, it kind of - I think it can add to the environment - the challenging environment and being away from home for so long, It definitely adds an extra challenge. I think it's tricky because it's something we’re definitely used to, obviously done it for a couple of years now. And we have lots of well-being things in place, so we can all sort of look out for each other. But I think at the same time it's, you know, this is - we've obviously done Australia and New Zealand back to back and they're two brilliant places to travel and to play. So it's been really enjoyable at the same time and obviously the results haven't gone our way, but I think we've definitely, had some good days as a team, which I think in these times it's obviously important to remember the other side – the off field memories that you're making as well. I think it makes being away from home a little easier.
Reporter: Is there a sense of the pressure of defending the trophy that's coming in your way do you think - like a fear of failure sort of thing that is bothering the group as a whole. And just one more follow up to that - is there a person in charge in the dressing room who's responsible for keeping the morale up? Is there like a character like that in the dressing room who's going around keeping everyone chirpy despite the results?
Jones: I'm not sure if there's any extra pressure – obviously there would have been five years ago, I suppose that doesn't feel that recent. I think from a player, who obviously wasn't part of that squad coming into this World Cup, knowing that we were defending champions was definitely sort of a confidence boost. I thought - I definitely saw it as a positive thing, knowing that you're sharing the dressing room with the girls that have been there and done it before. It's definitely a hugely positive thing.
I think in terms of morale, I think it's definitely our strength as a squad. How well we look out for each other and we've got good genuine friendships within the team, which is obviously really important as we're spending so much time together and I think it does come naturally. It’s obviously been challenged as you'd expect in this run of games. But in saying that - I think we've done really well in terms of coming together and enjoying each other's company and picking each other up when you know, you're having a bad day or something like that. So I couldn't -to be honest, couldn't name one person I think we've just got a great squad full of good people who are all sort of looking out for each other.