3 April - Christchurch - England players Heather Knight and Natalie Sciver post-match press conference

Reporter: Firstly just sum up your emotions after the final looked like you might get close to there with Nat, but obviously felt short.

Heather: Yeah obviously I'm very disappointed. I am really proud of Nat and the fight she put on, obviously to give us a chance of winning, but we unfortunately didn't have anyone with her to be able to really maximize. All credit to Australia for the way they played in a final. It was pretty amazing and they made it very tricky for us to set fields, it was a very good wicket and innings by Elyssa - Yeah, it was outstanding. One of the best I've certainly seen live. So yeah, obviously disappointed but I think we can take a lot of pride in what we've done as a group, the way we fought throughout the competition to be in this position and the way we fought tonight.

Reporter: Looking at that you obviously perhaps didn't expect to be in this position three games in, so what are the positives you can take from it but also what are the things you think might need to change?

Heather: Yeah, lot of positives, I think the character and the resilience in the group to turn it around after those first three games when obviously we were in a pretty tough situation shows volumes I think about this group and the people that we've got in it and the staff we've got as well to get here with a chance of winning, but I think in terms of things we need to do differently. I think it will take a little bit of time to digest what went wrong. And I think also, it's fair to say credit to Australia and their players and they put their best game on the biggest stage so - fair play to them.

Reporter: Can you just talk us through what was going through your head as you went out to bat and then as the innings went on as the wickets were falling?

Nat: Yeah, I mean, when you're chasing 350 odd runs and there is really only one way you can play it.I saw the batters had already got us off to a really good start. I was about a bit scratchy at the start and Heather was hitting it nicely, so yeah, I've stuck in and knew that I would be able to get one away. But I guess when you're chasing that - the mentality of scoring runs takes care of itself really - know that you need to be in there for a long time but also picking up boundaries where you can and do that seem to come naturally. But it just got a bit too much, I guess.

Reporter: How long did you actually think it was possible – to go for the run chase.

Nat: Yeah, I think actually when Charlie Dean was there we had a really good chat like if we were there with two - three overs to spare. We knew that - I mean, it would be a big ask but, there would be a chance that we could get over the line. And you could tell that - yeah, the Australians were really keen on obviously taking taken our wicket and yeah, changing the momentum again. Because we did have a bit of momentum, I guess. But just if anyone stuck around for 50 or 100 - 100 run partnership, it would have been maybe a different story. But yeah, we are still in it until then.

Reporter: Can I also ask to you both, [inaudible 11:23] and what needs to happen next in terms of the next steps?

Heather: Yeah, I mean this tournament has been unbelievable, the amount of close games we've had the competitiveness of all the games really has been brilliant. I don't remember another tournament like it really. And yeah, to be pushed - ourselves to be pushed as a team as we have done and then still being able to make it to the final, I think we can be really proud of ourselves.

Nat: Yeah I think it has been a brilliant World Cup, I think the standard of cricket, the competition, the tenseness of the matches there's been a lot of close matches, I think it's a brilliant advert for the women's game and means it's in a really healthy place I think. Probably not a lot off people were expecting I think going into this competition, but I think – albeit it was bad for us in the start of the competition to have everyone beating everyone, is a really good place to be and I think in the future, to keep that happening there needs to be countries that play more cricket. I think we're quite lucky - us and Australia are the best two supported teams in the world. But I think there needs to be more regular cricket for some of the nations that don't play as much. I think Sri Lanka obviously weren't here, they have hardly played cricket in the last two years because of the COVID and to keep the game, the women's game, in a healthy state, there needs to be that support throughout the different nations I think.

Reporter: Yeah, how was tough it setting fields to Haley today and then what impresses you the most about her batting?

Heather: Yeah, it was tricky. She obviously moves around a lot. Hit the ball off the stumps quite a lot and with only four out of the back end on a very good wicket with a quick outfield. It was really tricky actually. The ballers tried their best but the pressure that she built against us, the pressure that she put the bowlers under was yeah, it was just a top knock wasn't it, it was very, very tricky because she hit all over the ground. It was hard to shut her down and shut down one side of the ground. So credit to her for her innings.

Reporter: Nat played outstandingly today, but do you think that’s the greatest woman's ODI innings you've seen in your time involved in cricket.

Heather: Yeah, I think it's up there to do it in a final particularly is I imagine very special so yeah, so one of the best that I've seen, I think has been some brilliant knocks this World Cup actually, Nats had her best ODI hundreds I've seen both against Australia this World Cup so yeah, then there's been a lot, but that was definitely a very good innings.

Reporter: I just wanted to ask Sciver, after the first match against Australia, you were here with an unbeaten century. And again, it's very similar circumstances except the stakes were higher today. Could you please put two words, your personal journey from that particular game to this final?

Nat: Yeah, after the first match getting so close, I guess the disappointment was something that has stuck with me. So going essentially against the top ranked team was really special as well. So yeah, it's weird how it's worked out, how it's been against Australia, but yeah, I guess my batting over this tournament I felt pretty confident and probably not done as well as I had expected having felt that way. So yeah, it's nice to end with a good score, but it would have been nicer to have the trophy.

Reporter: My question to you is - you briefly touched upon the domestic structure that England have, I'd like to know, off the field if you look back on the 2017 to 2022 cycle, what are the things that went right for England to come to the final and just looking forward to the next cycle - If there is one or two things that you'd like to see?

Heather: Well I guess it's been a long five years, isn't it? I think we've played a lot of cricket in that period, which has been a real positive, I think the amount of cricket that we're playing now is way more than we used to do which is really good, good for the development of the group. And I think obviously the last couple of years, the domestic structure back home has become really strong. There's been the domestic contracts, The Hundred, etc. And I think you're starting to see younger players coming through someone like Charlie Dean who was nowhere near the international scene before the100 and she's broken on and done very well and is an exciting player for the future and I think we'll continue hopefully to see more players like that emerge. More young players that are hard earned cricketers, because they played a lot of cricket under pressure in big situations in big tournaments back home. So yeah, I think that's a real positive. And to be honest, I haven't thought too much about the next cycle – all of our energy has been on this World Cup. But yeah, I think that the stronger we can have that domestic setup back home, the more it's going to help the team.

Reporter: Just how difficult the decision was it to choose the ball first and how significant and what impact you think that had on the match.

Heather: It was probably a 50-50 the stats at the ground particularly under lights are strongly in favor of chasing and I felt like it was - if we could get a few wickets it gave us the best chance of winning and I think it did do a little bit in the first 10 and we take a couple of early wickets and it's a different story obviously Alysa and Rach batted very well and set that platform for them to have that big, middle and back end. So yeah, you can judge the decision in hindsight, obviously, but I think I wouldn't change what I did.

Reporter: My question is having played Australia twice in this year's World Cup, what according to you a team needs to do to break the dominance of Aussies in the future?

Heather: I only got the first bit of that but I think something Australia do really well as a batting unit is when they get a partnership together. They really make it a match defining partnership. They're really ruthless with that and they extend those big partnerships and I think it's something we can certainly do a little bit better as a side I think tonight obviously – Nat had an outstanding innings but we have someone else with her and with potential of chasing that score. Although we let them get a few too many with the ball. So yeah, making sure as a batting group where we wanted to have those really big partnership, score those big hundreds for the team is something we could definitely work on. I guess we haven't done as well as we'd like during this World Cup.

Reporter: Hi, You just talked about the domestic setup. What do you think needs to be done to the English game as a whole to catch up with the Australians? And how long do you think that will take?

Heather: Oh, I think the changes that have been made in the structure back home have really helped, I think it's in a good place. I think things will only improve over the next couple of years. There'll be a few more domestic contracts I imagine and a few more sort of season pros and as high as the standard that we can get that competition as possible. It's only going to be really good for England and I thought the 100 was unbelievable last year, the fact that our young players are playing in front of massive crowds -18,000 people, it's something you don't even get in the Big Bash - is something completely unique and I think it's going to create hopefully a generation of cricketers that are so used to playing on the big stage so used to play in under pressure. And yeah, it might take a little bit of time. Australia obviously started the domestic setup and the investment in the women's game a little bit earlier than we did. But hopefully it will bear fruit in the next couple of years.

Reporter: My question is that Lisa came to the press conferences after the defeat and she took responsibility for this team and she spoke about how you as a team want to move forward. She has been working with this team for a long time now and what has been her contribution like for the team?

Nat: Lisa's obviously been with us for a while and she knows us pretty well. I mean, I worked with her when I was in the England Academy. And I think for her what she's brought for us is really the mindset around the team. Being able to be brave and punch first. And also, I guess just sticking together and having that fight. That's something that she always reminds us of, and that's what we've shown really in this World Cup. So from that perspective, I think we've done that.

Heather: It's worth remembering that Lisa took over just before COVID as well and obviously most of her reign has been during a pretty tricky period for touring and playing cricket with restrictions and obviously her being Australian she hasn't been able to get home as well. So I think it's worth mentioning how she's dealt with that and how she's managed what isn't an easy situation to manage with various challenges that COVID throws up as well.