3 March - Tauranga - West Indies Captain Stafanie Taylor pre-match press conference

Reporter: Hi, Stafanie. In the last couple of warm up games in the batting department, what are the takeaways that you - look, when you look at the two games that you've had both, still you didn't get the desired results. What are the takeaways that - positive takeaways that the team has looked at?

Stafanie Taylor: Did you say something about our last two games?

Reporter: Yes, yes. I was just saying, that you had a couple of tough warm up games, especially in the batting department. What are the things that you want to address in the positive takeaways from the two matches that you had?

Stafanie: We had our we had our meeting and you know, we said that to be competitive, we have to be scoring over 200 runs and yeah in the two games that we played, we didn't do so. So that's something that we've had a look at. And, you know, moving forward, that's something that we need to work at.

Reporter: Thank you, and all the best.

Reporter: Thank you. Hello, Stephanie. Good evening, everyone. I noticed that in the first wall of encounter against Australia, [inaudible] opened the bowling, Shakera Selman she bowled in the middle overs, that’s what Shakera did also against South Africa – I was wondering if its things to come in the World Cup?

Stafanie: It was a practice game -it’s something that we you know, we wanted to try and I guess especially against Australia, you know we lighten the pace and you know, we decided okay, then try spin to see what happened. I thought Healy bowled really well - Selman usually bowled good in the middle. So that's something that we also wanted to try and, you know, see how it works.

Reporter: Okay, thank you.

Reporter: Thanks very much. Hi, Stephanie. If you look at the West Indies record in major tournaments, your T20 record seems to be quite a lot better than your 50 Over record, what would you put that down to and how can you translate the great performances you've had in the shortest format to 50 over cricket?

Stafanie: I guess you have batters who probably like shorter formats of the game. Yeah, find it more exciting. But I think when it comes down to the longer format, we just, you know, just need to spend more time you know, they're in the middle. I think that's an area that we've been, you know, falling down a lot in - rotating the strike. And, yeah, tried to build more partnerships. We haven't been building a lot of partnerships. So hence the reason why, you know, we keep you know, falling down in that department.

Reporter: Can I just follow up on that - I read an article about a couple of weeks ago, where Deandra Dottin was talking exactly about what you're saying and more batters taking responsibility. If you have maybe two or three of you on whom most of the run scoring relies - and - or do you feel like the rest of the lineup is starting to contribute?

Stafanie: I think the other batters are starting to contribute. I think what we need to do is, you know, being collective, you know, in each game - being consistent, and that's something that I've talked about a lot, you know, being consistent, not just one or two batters always performing and probably looking at how teams are playing a lot more 50’s and you know, batters stepping up and taking that responsibility. And, you know, I think as batters we have to do that more consistently.

Reporter: Krisania asked a question on Rashida Williams, from the previous team, Rashida is okay, and she's being monitored by our physio and medical staff. We'll move on to Karunya - you can go ahead and ask the question now.

Reporter: Hi, Stafanie. This is Karunya. As a team, how dependent are you on analytics and as a captain, how much do you use matchups and has the new coaching staff changed how much you use analytics in any way?

Stafanie: We have a brief talk about it. We try not to focus too much on it and try to focus on what we need to do. Yeah, I think any bowler you toss the ball to should be able to do the job. And that's the reason why, you know, you give them the ball. So we try not to focus too much on matchups, but yeah, if we know that somebody is really struggling against a particular bowler, then that's something that we actually talk about as well.

Media Manager: Thank you. Anyone else with any questions? Vinayak you can go ahead-

Reporter: Hi, Stafanie. This is Vinayak from India. Good luck for the tournament. My question to you is about the match tomorrow. Has there been any discussion on playing New Zealand the hosts in the first game and you know, possibly exploiting the fact that they're going to be under pressure of performing at home in a World Cup, the first match and all that - has that come up in discussions and just your thoughts on New Zealand as an opponent?

Stafanie: No we don't talk about if they are under pressure or what- I think that's for them. We try to you know, zone in on us and what we need to do to perform - perform well. So we had a practice, we had our practice session today and you know, we work on areas that we need to work on to prepare yourself for tomorrow.

Reporter: Just has there been any discussions on New Zealand as an opponent - the areas that you need to - you can probably look at, you know, exploiting to win the match?

Stafanie: Well, anything you do tomorrow, we just know that, you know, we have to do it well, we have to play to the best of your ability. Yeah, New Zealand is in good form. But you know, it's all about the day and who perform.

Media Manager: Firdaus you can ask your next question.

Reporter: I just want to find out a little bit about your experience of the last couple of weeks you've been on the road for a while having come from South Africa and now obviously in New Zealand. And what's it been like and what's the team environment like after spending such a long time?

Stafanie: It's been really good. It's really nice that we could actually go out. I think that was an area that - that was an area of concern being in a bubble. And you know, sometimes you being in a bubble, not being able to go out you know, for yourself, take a walk around and I think it's a lot better. You know, girls could go out and have a coffee or you know, even go out and have a meal. I think that's you know, really important to, you know, take your mind off cricket and, you know, just to have, you know, stretch your legs, you know, being out of the hotel for a little bit. I think we're in a better better place where that is concerned. And yeah, we look forward for you know, for tomorrow.

Media Manager: Thank you.

Okay, one last chance for any more questions. If not, we'll thank Stafanie for joining us here today. No, okay. Thank you all very much for joining us.