28 October - Lucknow - England Assistant Coach Marcus Trescothick pre-match press conference
[Reporter:]
Can you tell us how tough it's been watching? Obviously, you've not been able to affect things out there and just watching from the sides, it must have been pretty hard viewing.
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Of course, I think sitting on the sidelines, seeing the performances haven't been quite right. We've just not been matching up to the levels we expect. It's disappointing, of course it is. We're all feeling it. We're all feeling the heat and stuff. But what can you do? We prepared the same, we've done things very similar to what you'd expect. Every practice we go through we're coming out the other side thinking we're in a good place and feeling quite right. It's just not quite worked then when we go into the games and got that right.
So, it's always challenging for everybody, not just the coaches watching.
[Reporter:]
And the batting in particular, I think they've lost like 47 wickets out of 49, possibly, you're just scrambling for somebody to get a big one to build around, aren't you?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Yeah, of course. And I think, we've only had one really big score, haven't we? Dawid [Malan] got 100 against Bangladesh. Yeah. So, we could do with a few more. Obviously, we need to - that's the level we expect it to be and having the bigger scores because in 50 over competitions there's room for 150’s, 180’s, 200’s as we've seen so we need a few bigger performances to put in the bigger scores for us over the long 50 overs.
[Reporter:]
Can you tell us what the thinking is about team selection this week? Is it more changes, bring some of the younger guys in and let them have their head?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Well, I can't tell you the team of course, and I don't really know what their principle of what they're trying to do, So I can't give you a lot to that answer, I'm afraid.
[Reporter:]
Well, I mean, one guy then in particular will be Harry Brook, who stepped out last time. But you could tell us a bit. He clearly is someone who's been earmarked probably across all three formats as a pretty big guy with a big future. He probably has a role to play in the next few weeks?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Maybe. I think there's opportunity or there's scope for everyone to play as we know and Brookie has been one that has performed in a consistent level for from what we've seen in the last 18 months I suppose now in his Test cricket in particular. Hasn't played a massive amount of 50 over cricket but if he got his opportunity, he's had a couple of okay scores so far but just again looking for that big one that will make the difference.
[Reporter:]
India, you know it's not getting any easier, this tournament for you, they performed extremely consistently, sitting on top there, is there anything you can take from the fact that it's almost a free hit given that even Matthew said he expects them to be sort of wild favourites for the game?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
I think playing against India in a World Cup in their own country is that's a special part of the game you know you get these opportunities that come around - you know there'll be a big crowd, there'll be a wonderful occasion. We're looking forward to that chance. I think there's nothing more that we can offer apart from going out and playing that performance. And then hopefully you come out on top at the end of it.
It's exciting. I think having been where we've been and coming now into this game, the buzz of what it will be, you know, building up for the game and then into the game tomorrow will be good. So, really excited for it.
[Reporter:]
Just on that India game and the kind of psychology of it - the fact that it is almost a free hit, do you think that will help to free up the players, especially the batsmen tomorrow?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
I don't know. I don't know if you can free hits can really make a difference. I think I thought we were going into the last game everything in order to what we needed to do. And then we didn't show the standards of performance that what we need. So, it's really challenging because you want to come into World Cups, you want to be playing for every game, you want something to really be meaningful when you go out and perform. And you look at the World Cup rugby, it must be challenging playing a third and fourth place playoff. But we've got an opportunity against a big team in their own country where the atmosphere is going to be electric. So, if you're not excited and up for the game like that, then great. You know, this is an opportunity to do so.
[Reporter:]
Can I just ask you to talk a bit about the sort of your read on the tempo of England's batting over the last three weeks because you know there's been talk about being not attacking enough you've also lost a lot of wickets? What's your read on it? People sort of seem to be not quite getting set and maybe taking wrong options wrong times. What's your analysis of it?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Well, I think more than first and foremost is you know we have an attitude to how we've gone about batting in the last however many years since our white ball cricket has changed and evolved. And it's always trying to be positive. We're always looking to put pressure back on oppositions, bowlers, as much as we can while reading the situation and be smart in those situations. And we've done it occasionally. We've done it now and again. We just haven't done it consistently with enough people really reading the situation, taking the right options, and then putting it all together to get that score. So, it's pretty obvious when you haven't got players who haven't got the runs, they haven't got the form, they haven't got the backup of what they need to be doing. You know, you can always question what we're trying to achieve. But the process and the conversations have always been the same and they won't change whether we're playing the first or the last game. You're just trying to read the situation and get it right on the day.
[Reporter:]
Do you feel like it's a rhythm thing for a lot of batters, like sort of struggling to get off strike early and innings and just never really being set?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
I think confidence, rhythm, whatever you want to call it. I think, you know, the form of the team hasn't been as good as what we normally have. Normally there's always one, maybe two people in that team who are going to get a hundred plus or a big score that's going to make a big difference. And consistently within the course of this competition everybody has been you know out of form or not scoring the runs that you need to do so we understand that it comes and goes and we know what it is it's trying to make sure we can get it right to find the feeling of what it is. If we get that right in the next four games it will be exciting because they'll be hungry for runs and when we do it will be you know it'll be exciting for the team we're playing against.
[Reporter:]
I just want to know there is this huge sense outside that that England has lost interest in the 50-over format, now that they've been the champions, finally. What is your take on it?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Forgive me if I don't want to be blunt here, but we haven't lost faith in what it is. I can't really say too much more. We love playing any form of cricket, any form of the game that we play. And we were desperate to come here and try and win back-to-back 50 over competitions. So, we're still very much focused on all formats of the game.
[Reporter:]
Whether it is batting or bowling, adapting to slow-ish kind of wickets, is that the biggest challenge?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
That's always a challenge for us. I think in every team, every game that we want to play we want to play on the best wicket possible if it's not and it turns then we’re that and we've been good enough and we've been very smart at that in the last few years so that's that might be the challenge ahead I haven't looked at the pitch out there so it might be it might turn it might be slow but it'd be good preparation for some of the guys from back in January for the Test matches probably.
[Reporter:]
[Inaudible]
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Well, it's again it's no different isn't it we've got some good spinners of course but if the seamers need to bowl, they need to adapt and need to read the conditions of what it is. So, whether we're playing on good pitches or slow pitches, you know, the team is good enough and equipped enough to be able to adapt on that.
[Reporter:[
A lot of chat about free hits. Is there a sense in the team that you still have a little chance of making the semis and this India win, if it happens, can really spur you on?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
I don't think we're necessarily thinking about the competition as such. I think we're more focused on getting our performance right, getting the better levels of performance than what we've shown in the last few weeks. So, that sits over there and it will just look after itself. If it happens, it happens. We know it will be very challenging. Mathematically, it's still possible. But, it's very tough.
[Reporter:]
As you said, you haven't lost your interest in 50-over cricket, but as you said earlier in this press conference, England didn't play too much 50-over cricket. You won last year T20 World Cup, so why didn't you plan for 50 over cricket? It means you have failed to make a proper planning for this World Cup. And the second question is, it's been five matches so far for England. You guys could not settle down your playing eleven. You have changed so many players in and out.
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Okay, so let's come back to the second one, the first question. I think nowadays the cricket structure is so busy, right? It's really busy. You've got to plan in Test matches, T20s, 50s and what it is. And we're always trying to get the balance right sometimes we do sometimes we don't some teams play more 50 overs than others and it just doesn't always match up so we're still trying to get it right and we're still very focused on playing 50 over World Cups and 50 over cricket it's just when it fits into the schedule and as we know the cricket schedule is very busy.
I think when you're in different conditions and different places to play different games, you're always trying to find an edge. You're trying to find a difference where you think, is this a pitch that we need three seamers or is this a pitch where we need three spinners and match it up that way? The batting has been pretty consistent, obviously Ben Stokes coming back in and Harry Brook changing. So, I think you've got to adapt. I don't think you can go through any World Cup or any big competition with the same 11 players.
[Reporter:]
Marcus, there are contrasting views over the umpire's call over DRS. What is your take? Because there is a school of thought that thinks if the ball is hitting the stumps, it has to be given out. And if it is not, it's not out. As simple as that. Whether it is hitting just minutely, that's something different. So, what is your take on umpires call?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
I don't think we need to change anything at the moment. It's been working pretty smooth as you'd expect it to be. I think everyone knows the rules, everyone has the same understanding going into the game. So, you know there's nothing to change at the moment. There's not been any major obvious errors or anything that we need to worry about. So, carry on as we have been.
[Reporter:]
There are a lot of players in this England team who had experience of Indian conditions through the IPL and all that. Unlike say past teams who probably struggled to adapt, has adaptability still been a big challenge for the team despite this experience and the second question is there any view on maybe Jos opening the innings in the remaining games given that he's had experience of that in India and done well?
[Marcus Trescothick:]
Firstly, Jos not to my knowledge no I can't I can't believe that's going to happen.
To the first question, I think we've gained massive amounts of more experience in India because of the guys playing the volume of cricket they have done. I think you're always learning; you're always playing in different situations. It's just about getting the performance right on the day and that's what we've not done we've not been good enough on the performance of the day and not been consistent enough with that.
