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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

February 8, 2015

Elton Chigumbura

CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND

Q. Can you just tell us a bit about the preparation? Obviously Dav hasn't been around for too long, but it's a big change and a nice new coaching appointment for you guys I imagine?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: Yeah, I was saying back in Zimbabwe, that's been good. The few times that we had Dav around, the guys have been working out. The environment in the team, the guys are happy with what is going on at the moment. Looking back from the games that we have played, I thought the guys are playing with freedom. It's always good signs to see.

Q. Do you think a bit of the kind of hurt from the Bangladesh series has eased, and I'm sure that was really difficult for you guys, just how are people feeling individually, and what do they want to do better this team?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: Yeah, Bangladesh tour was a tough tour for us, but it's something that we try and forget quickly. Our main focus was coming here, obviously with the conditions here, they're a bit different from the ones in Bangladesh, which is a big positive for us because we're sort of like almost used to these conditions than the one in Bangladesh. The guys have been working out. They're good signs. The games that we played, guys playedÂ they played a different kind of game, more positive, and we got a lot out of the three games that we played in Gisborne. It's a good sign. We're looking forward to the next two games. I know they are going to be tougher, but I think if we stick to our game plans and stay positive, we should be able to come through.

Q. Elton, Dav is known as a coach who builds up teams and takes them from a low basin and turns them into real winners. How hopeful are you he's going to be able to do the same thing?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: Yeah, there's lots of positives of this kind from Dav, a guy who's experienced coaching different teams, and what he has taught us in the short time that he's been around was a positive coming out. Yeah, we're looking forward to be working with him, and obviously he's a guy with lots of experience. We should be able to learn a lot from him.

Q. In this tournament people are dividing teams into strengths in terms of bowling and batsmen. India is seen as a batting team, for instance. Where do you think your strongest discipline is?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: The good thing about our team at the moment, it's full of allrounders, so we're a bit balanced when it comes to batting and bowling. Hopefully the guys, we keep our form. Hopefully we can stay the wayÂ especially the way we played in Gisborne. I know it was sort of like a weaker team, but we had lots of good signs, how guys played batting and bowling. For us it's about playing good cricket in all departments. If we do that, I'm sure we'll be successful.

Q. Elton, what's the difference between your first stint as captain and now? How are you approaching it differently? And also in terms of your own bowling responsibilities, you're going to have to bowl quite a few overs, I guess?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: Yeah. Obviously you learn a lot from all those failures. I think this time around, again, I've been more positive and also take more responsibility as a captain. Yeah, obviously bowling is going to be a big part when it comes to the balance of the team, so I've been working on my bowling, as well. Hopefully I can maintain what I've been doing these past three games.

Q. Elton, what are you trying to take out of this game tomorrow against New Zealand?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: I'm going to try and play our best cricket, be positive, guys to express themselves. I'm sure if we do that, when it comes to our game plan, we are a team that if we can express ourselves we play better cricket. The main thing will be expressing ourselves and like staying positive all the time. And also trying to get close to the final 11 that is going to face South Africa on our first game.

Q. So are you likely to play the whole squad like some other teams or stick close to your 11?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: Not the whole team but maybe probably the closest to the final 11.

Q. What would a result mean for you guys, a positive result? Should you beat them tomorrow, what's that going to mean building up to the World Cup?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: It will be a big positive. The confidence will go high, as well. I know it's just a warmup game, but we're going to take it seriously and show that we play our best cricket.

Q. There's a lot of youngsters on the team but also people like yourself, Hamilton and Brendan. Do you still find there's a lot of pressure on you guys or is the workload divided now with the youngsters?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: Obviously as a senior player you must perform. You must lead from the front. There's always pressure, but I guess even a youngster will feel pressure because he has his responsibilities. But at the same time, those youngsters, they are yet to express themselves. All the responsibility of the senior players, we have to look after that and make sure they relax and play their natural game.

Q. How far away from a starting 11 are you guys, and what are you looking at in terms of balance, because I think Tinashe and Tendai Chatara, are they the only two frontline seamers besides yourself, so how many quicks will you look to play do you think?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: There's also Taw Mupariwa is alsoÂ is a specialist bowler. Like I said, there's too many allrounders, so just looking at these two games, you just have to make sure that we see what's the best combination for the first game. We've got allrounders and also they're seam bowlers. I think the first game is going toÂ we're going to have to see how we play tomorrow.

Q. Prosper's situation, how much does his role change now that he can't bowl all speed?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: I don't think it changes much. Prosper when he started playing, he wasn't a big tailer of the ball. The big thing about Prosper at the moment is his consistency is still there. He's a guy who with his experience, he can use his experience, especially with the bowling action that he's got now, small but experienced, and also, he is consistent with his bowling.

Q. When you look back to that win over Australia, that was probably one of the games I can think of recently where you guys stayed in the game even longer than you normally do, and then obviously you ended up winning that game. What needs to be done to repeat that performance and just make sure you stay in the game, make sure you're still in it with 10 overs to go?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: If guys play their roles, and looking at the games that we have played, I think the guys are now starting to understand their roles in the team. It's going to be important to stick to those roles as individuals on the team, and like we said, to take it to the last few overs, not to panic too early I think is going to be key in this tournament.

Q. Elton, if I can leap you ahead to the game against South Africa, I think it's fair to say they tend to look at Zimbabwe as little brothers from down south, but of course you have beaten them in a World Cup before. How do you stop them from bullying you into making you the little brothers from down south?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: I think this time if we play positive cricket, if we put teams under pressure, that mentality of trying to bully the other team will go away by playing positive cricket. This tournament we're here to play positive cricket. You only get one chance to play against one team, so if you play your best cricket on the day, the team that plays the best cricket on the day will win the game. It's all about putting pressure, especially on those big teams, as well.

Q. Having two new balls at this tournament, does it favor a team like yourself, or does it perhaps favor the teams with faster bowlers, with more experienced quicks? How do you see that aspect?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: I think it depends with the conditions. Looking at what we saw these past games when New Zealand was playing against Pakistan and SriÂ Lanka, seems like they are good wickets to bet on. Obviously it depends where you're playing. Maybe the only thing that will be challenging is the wind factor. Obviously playing with two balls is going to assist maybe seamers for a longer period because these conditions keeps the ball newer for a longer time. Yeah, I think it's a balance between the two because it depends what the combination of the teams will be like. Some will prefer to play maybe four seamers and stuff. Yeah, I think looking at the wickets, I think they are good wickets to bet on. I don't think there won't be much of a difference when it comes to balls.

Q. What's the one thing you'd like to see different to the 2011 World Cup?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: A more challenging team that will challenge big teams, compared to the last World Cup where we just played to try and put up a better performance. But this time a team that wants to win. I'll be happy to go out with 11 guys who want to win the game from ball one.

Q. This World Cup is played in two different countries with quite different conditions. Which conditions do you think will suit your team better, here or in Australia?
ELTON CHIGUMBURA: I haven't been to Australia, but from what I hear there are bigger bounces, and yeah, some of the grounds are a bit small. I think here we've got more chance because of the shorter boundaries, and if a big team doesn't score too many runs, they might be under pressure. Like I said, we just have to play all these games to make sure that we try and win them. By doing that, it's playing positive cricket. Looking at the conditions, I don't think there is much of a big difference. Maybe the wind factor is the only difference. So maybe it will be better for bowlers when it comes to Australia where there's not big winds and maybe more bounce and pace. I think it's almost similar when you look at both countries.
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