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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUPFebruary 26, 2015Jason HolderSYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES Q. A few people said earlier this week that what happens doesn't really matter for tomorrow. Are you of the same opinion that regardless of South Africa that tomorrow's an entirely different game? JASON HOLDER: Yeah, I agree. It's a different ballgame. We're into the World Cup. Now that South Africa's gone, we have two wins, so we have some momentum going into this game. So I think both teams are basically on a level playground. Q. Talk about South Africa. There is always about AB de Villiers, Anwar, Dale Steyn, do you sometimes have to put that reputation aside and just think about playing 11 cricket players? JASON HOLDER: Well, that's a good question. Obviously I've played against their entire team, and they have particular players that stand out. You can't underestimate them in a sense. You have to pay special attention to them. I think once we just stick to our plans. We obviously have plans towards them, and if we execute our plans, I think we'll be better off at the end of the day. Q. Jason, last game Suleiman Benn did not feature. Looking at the history of the SCG pitch, do you think he might tomorrow? Tell us a little about the pitch? JASON HOLDER: Obviously, Benn missed the last game due to injury. We'll just monitor him yesterday and everything, and it showed there was no real damage towards his back, so that's a good sign for us. Hopefully, we'll see how he pulls up tomorrow and we'll make a decision based on the conditions, but yeah. Q. It seems you guys are pretty happy in the batting and you scored the 300 in all three of your games so far, and the bowling is the area that's really being talked about now. What sort of aspects of that have you been working on, and what would you like to see done differently especially because South Africa are a top heavy side? JASON HOLDER: Obviously, we're a bit inconsistent how we bowl. Having said that, we've addressed a few things in terms of our power play overs. The mandatory batters, and just trying to control it a bit more. Having said that, in seven games we didn't really bowl well in the middle. It's just about stringing more deliveries together, and putting pressure on the middle overs and giving us leeway coming on to the back end. But, yeah, we just need to be a little tighter and little more consistent in what we're doing and bowl particularly well to our fields. Q. Can you just tell us what's wrong with Chris Gayle? Will he be a hundred percent fit tomorrow? You know, there are positives and negatives to him playing so well. Is it great to see him get a double hundred or would you like to see more batsmen contribute big scores? JASON HOLDER: Oh, yeah, the last game speaks for itself. We had two batsmen just putting up big hands in batting down to the end. That's something we ask of our top four batters, at least one of them to bat deep into the innings, and two of them put up a hundred last game and did it. In terms of Chris's fitness, obviously he's been struggling over the past with his back. So we're trying to monitor him as best as we possibly can. Q. Your research with the conditions, what do you think it will be like the SCG history says it takes a bit of spin, but in recent times it's been a bit of pace and bounce. Just your views? JASON HOLDER: Well, we had our two warm-up games here. We've got a good idea for the pitch that we've played on. It seems to still be a good batting track. I thought in the second game we played against Scotland it got a bit slow as well. But I think the best thing for us to do is assess the conditions as early as possible tomorrow. We'll have a look at the pitch and obviously make a decision on the day in terms of our team and whether we'd like to bat or bowl first. I can't really speak too much on it now. I think we need to assess the conditions early and go from there. Q. Can you tell us a bit about how the team rallied around Chris when things got difficult for him, and how much it meant to you guys to see him do well especially because of that injury? JASON HOLDER: We've always rallied around Chris. Chris is one of the most jovial people in the dressing room. He brings a different atmosphere. He brings a lot of fun. He's a big team man, and his presence is pretty much felt in the dressing room. It was a really good feeling not only to see him get a hundred, but going to get a double hundred. He's broken records, and he's set the path in world cricket in a sense. I think it's important that his success is crucial to our overall success. We love him, and he's a huge member for us. It's good to have him. Q. You started your captaincy with South Africa and you're into it a little bit now do you feel more comfortable leading the side? Do you feel you're more comfortable in the role? JASON HOLDER: Yeah, every day I would say it gets better. Obviously we have our difficulties inside the dressing room. Every team has that. But we just try to get the best out of our players, I think the guys are really coming to terms with me being captain. It's not as important. Again, I've spoken about building a relationship with the players, and I think I'm getting there slowly but surely. It won't happen overnight, but I think the longer I'm here, the more I'll build relationships. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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