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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUPFebruary 7, 2015AB de VilliersCHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND Q. I'm going to start by asking a fairly selfish question about this New Zealand warm up match. How much confidence and how much credence are you giving to that match, and how much can you take out of that match heading into the tournament proper? AB de VILLIERS: Yeah, look, we're very happy with the two warm up matches that we have, just to get used to the conditions. Once again, we were here not too long ago, which is quite nice, that series we had here in Australia. But look, you have to take a warm up game for what it is, it ultimately is a warm up game, so you've got to try and get the cobwebs out and make sure that long flight doesn't play a part when you get to the first game of the World Cup, which is against Zimbabwe. So it's not the most important games in the world, but we have a few areas we feel we need to cover our bases, and we'll definitely do that in the first two warm up games. Q. Are you looking at that match as an opportunity to potentially inflict some psychological damage that could come in handy later in the tournament? AB de VILLIERS: It's always nice to win games at cricket, I always say that to the boys. But once again, I emphasize the fact that it's a warm up game, and the result is not that important. It would be nice to win, but we're not putting a lot of emphasis on winning the games. We want to get a few other areas of our game sorted out, try a few things, and just make our batters get a few overs, seeing our batters score some runs. We'll work on some things on the field, and that's what it's all about, that's what a warm up game is all about. Q. How is your squad? Are there any fitness concerns, and if there are key areas that you want to work on in these warm up matches, what are they? AB de VILLIERS: We had a couple of niggles, but it's all sorted out. All the guys are 100 percent fit, and yeah, key areas in warm up games is just to, like I said before, it's just a warm up game, it's just a matter of us spending time on the field. It's better than a net session. I've heard of many teams before that have had so many net sessions that they sort of get used to playing in the nets. Once they get out in the middle they sort of feel uncomfortable with not having a net around them. That's the warm up game. That's the main thing for me is getting out there and getting a feel for the ground, for the conditions here in New Zealand, and just being in the middle and spending some time in the middle. Q. AB, jet lag, how is the team feeling and how have you settled into Christchurch? AB de VILLIERS: It's been all right. Look, it was a very long flight. I actually had someone at the breakfast table this morning, not one of the team members, someone else, saying it's almost more difficult to come from Perth to here when it's like a quarter of a day, like five hours' difference, so 11 hours is almost like a complete turnaround, and I've been sleeping really well. Most guys are sleeping pretty well. Doc is looking after us with a couple of tablets here and there, and feeling really fresh and ready to go. We understand that over the next few days we will have some issues with our sleeping patterns, but there's more than enough time to get ready for that first World Cup game. Q. And this period in Christchurch, why do you think it's so important, and what do you think of Christchurch? AB de VILLIERS: I've only been here once before. We know all the history with the earthquakes and so on and can see that people are really hard at work to get the city back to what it used to be and maybe even better. It's great to sort of be part of that whole transition phase where you see a lot of buildings under renovations, just a lot of buildings smacked down right to the ground and people getting ready to rebuild everything, so it's nice to be part of that. I love being here. I've always enjoyed New Zealand. It's nice and fresh, beautiful climate, a little bit chilly at times, but I really enjoy being here. Why Christchurch is so important for us, it's a quiet kind of city. It's not too busy. I think it's the perfect place for us to prepare for a big tournament like the World Cup. Q. Are the New Zealand and Australian climates conducive to another record breaking entry of (inaudible)? AB de VILLIERS: Let's hope so. Look, you can never count that out. I'll just play the situation, once again, every time I play for South Africa when I walk out there I try to play the situation that's going to give us the best chance to win the game and try and have an impact on the game. That's all I'm focused on. It worked out for me in Jurbic (phon). Hopefully I'll have another game or two like that over here. Q. In terms of tournament favorites, who do you believe holds that title in this tournament? AB de VILLIERS: I've never been a big fan of building that up too much. We've been the favorites before in the tournament. It didn't work out for us. Then we went to another tournament. We weren't the favorites, didn't work out for us. I'm not really sure if it's a title that deserves a lot of time and a lot of talking about, but look, obviously the Aussies are the No. 1 in the world at the moment in the shorter format. They're playing at home, which brings a different dimension to the whole thing, maybe a little bit of extra pressure. But we're certainly one of the favorites. There's no hiding from that fact. We enjoy being one of the best teams in the world. We've beaten the Aussies not too long ago in Zimbabwe, so to have that kind of confidence that we can be the best team in the world, and at the tournament we've got the opportunity to prove it, gives us great opportunity. Q. There have been some wonderful South African teams past World Cups, and as you mentioned it sort of hasn't gone your way. What have the lessons been from those previous campaigns? Have you looked to them? What have you modified in your buildup this time from past campaigns? AB de VILLIERS: Yeah, look, it's very difficult to look at it like that, look at what happened in 2007. I think I'm the only guy that was there back in 2007. So it's a whole different feel on the team. I have my personal lessons that I've learnt from the past that I've learnt in every single game that I play, not only the World Cups. It's just another tournament. It's an important tournament, but it's just another tournament. That's probably the biggest lesson that I've learnt. I played really good cricket in the last World Cup, and I feel confident going into this one. The boys all feel very confident, but I can't tell you that we learned something in 2007 that I'm going to use now. We're just going to play each game and do the best that we can and try and win this tournament. Q. Can I speak to AB and Russell. Your thoughts on South Africa's pool? At this stage it is far ahead of your first game against Zimbabwe, but as a whole what do you think of the pool that you're in? AB de VILLIERS: We're pretty happy with the pool that we're in. Look, I don't think there's any way to hide in either of the two pools. You've got to play some good cricket. We understand that if we play to our potential that we should be getting to the quarterfinals, so there's a little bit of pressure there, but we also feel comfortable knowing that if we play good cricket, and if we dominate the games that we should dominate, then we've got a very good chance to make it to the quarterfinals. There are some dangerous teams in our pool. I think of a Pakistan that you're never sure of exactly what to expect, West Indies we played not too long ago, got some stars on the team, as well, and then obviously the big dog India, and obviously some of the minor teams in the world. You've got to respect every game that you play against opposition, especially the World Cup, and we know every game is vital. The most important game for us coming up is an (inaudible) against them. RUSSELL DOMINGO: He's mentioned that there are three sides in our pool that have won the World Cup already in the West Indies, Pakistan and India, so it's really difficult. There's some quality sides in some of our matches and we have to be on top of our game. Q. You've got in terms of fast bowling unit, from a betting point of view, facing someone like Dale Steyn in the nets repeatedly; surely that helps you facing guys at 150K an hour because you're a bit more used to it? AB de VILLIERS: He doesn't bowl 150 in the nets to us. No, we've got a wonderful bowling side, so it's a nice variation, and it's good preparation in the nets to face someone like Imran, Morne, Vernon, Wayne Parnell, Abbott, and then Dale, as well. Like you said, so it's a lot of variation and it's good preparation for going into a big World Cup. I think you face in the nets similar things to what you're going to face in the tournament. Yeah, we've got an all around good squad and just excited to go into this World Cup now. Q. Does that make you better for it? AB de VILLIERS: It's very difficult to say. Look, obviously if you prepare in a certain way and you face that kind of pace over and over again, then obviously you're going to get better at it. But I think New Zealand has always had one or two guys that can bowl that kind of pace. They've had Shane Bond not too long ago, Adam Milne now. It's a sportsman's individual responsibility to make sure you're prepared for whatever comes your way. I've never felt 100 percent comfortable facing 150 plus to be honest with you. I don't think anyone in the world feels comfortable facing that. But it's mind over matter when you walk out there representing your country, you've got to face the fire and make sure you get out on top. Q. From a captain's point of view with such a well balanced bowling unit behind you, does it give you confidence as you walk out on the field when you know you've got half a dozen guys that you can throw the ball to that are all right up there in the rankings and on reputation? AB de VILLIERS: Yeah, look, I very often get credit for winning games, but I feel very confident with the team that I have, I must say. There's a lot of matureness on our team, a lot of respect, which is more important in this side for each other, and we really enjoy each other's successes. I think those things are the most important things. I feel very comfortable as a captain captaining a team the team that I'm captaining at the moment, it makes it very easy for me. Just an easy job, but we know we're under pressure and we've got to go out there and win games. Q. AB, I have to ask you about the comments from South Africa's sports minister asking the team not to become a bunch of losers. What did you make of those comments? AB de VILLIERS: He always says that in all his press conferences so we're pretty used to that. Look, our country of South Africa expect a lot from our sports people, and we're expected to come here and win the tournament. We understand that, and obviously there's pressure that comes with comments like that, but we don't mind that. We're here to win. He made some really good points, as well. That point is obviously we all looked at each other, and we're like, ooh, here we go. But in saying that, we understand the kind of pressure that's on us, and we want to take the trophy back home. His good point that he made was no team prepares for tournaments like this thinking, oh, we're just going to go there, enjoy it, and whatever happens will happen. We come here to win, and I think that's the main message that came through to us. We're here to win the tournament, and hopefully we'll make the people of South Africa proud. Q. Can I just ask you, obviously you were here not so long ago, comfortably beat the Black Caps 2 0 in the series. How do you think, though, the Black Caps have perhaps changed or evolved since that series? AB de VILLIERS: Yeah, they've played some really good cricket after that. Maybe us playing here, it wasn't good for our tournament because we might meet them later on in the quarters or semis or somewhere there. They look like a formidable team at the moment, very dangerous side. I think McCullum is a wonderful captain and he leads the team really well. I don't know what exactly it is. I haven't followed it that closely, but I've been seeing the results and see that they've done really well over the last few weeks beating Sri Lanka convincingly, and we know Sri Lanka is a world class team, so to do that shows that they're in good form. Q. How do you think facing them or over the coming weeks would be perhaps different to when you faced them last year? AB de VILLIERS: I don't think well, obviously we're in the World Cup, but us beating them here, I would hope that it will play some kind of role in us feeling more confident, and they may be a little more intimidated. We'll just go out there and do the basics really well. Once again, that's miles ahead of the tournament, so I don't really want to talk about it too much, but if we do face them somewhere along the tournament, we'll assess properly. We will analyze whatever we have to and then go out there and play the cricket that we know we can. Q. AB, how do you make sure that Zimbabwe is not a (inaudible) game for the Proteas' first out? AB de VILLIERS: Well, we played them not too long ago. They've beaten us in the past. They beat Australia not too long ago, which is the No. 1 team in the world. So there's enough proof for you that we're not going to take them lightly. It's a very, very important game for us to start off really well and make sure we start our World Cup campaign off well. Q. Let's just talk about J.P. Duminy and Quinton De Kock, both players coming into this having had those long term injuries. The state of those two and the integration within the team? MOHAMMED MOOSAJEE: Yeah, we're happy to say that both of them have recovered fairly well. They both have time on their feet against the West Indies. J.P. is not feeling any effects of his patellar tendinopathy, and Quinny just told me yesterday running around on the football field he's feeling quite strong, as well. I think for Quinny it's just about time in the middle now. Q. And the psyche within the team? MOHAMMED MOOSAJEE: Yeah, I think generally the guys are in a good space. As AB said, we've had a week's break post the West Indies tour, and that's always important as far as freshness is concerned, so I think we come into this tournament knowing that the guys are mentally in a good space. Q. How is this time going to be different? What has South Africa done differently going into this World Cup would you say in comparison to the last few? RUSSELL DOMINGO: We're just trying to play it down as another tournament. I don't see a need to do anything astronomically different to what we've been doing over the last year. We've got some good results. I think we've lost one series in the last six or seven one day series we've played. Whatever we've done there to be successful should be good enough to hopefully be successful here. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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