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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUPMarch 12, 2015Brendon McCullumHAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND Q. Brendon, officially team news, illness, injury, and availability for tomorrow? BRENDON McCULLUM: Yeah, we've had a little bit of all of those, I guess. Yeah, I think most of the guys will be fine in terms of the illness. Milne we just want to have a look at it again in the morning. He's probably a little stiff and sore, so we have to make a call on that. But out of respect to the guys that haven't been able to get around him. Just might not be able to name it today, but we'll have it early in the morning. Q. Will you err on the side of caution? BRENDON McCULLUM: With Milne? Q. Yes. BRENDON McCULLUM: I think it's fair to assume that, yeah. Q. Do you think this is payback time for New Zealand? BRENDON McCULLUM: I don't know about payback time. But we're in the middle of a really important tournament, and Bangladesh is our opposition tomorrow. It's our next challenge. We've been playing good cricket over the last sort of while. We've got some big tests coming up hopefully as well, and then tomorrow is no different. Hopefully, if the weather does seize, then we're able to get out there and play against some in our own conditions, and I'm confident we'll put up a pretty good showing, and show Bangladesh are confident as well, but I think it could be a good game. But certainly not focusing on any payback as such after their performances against us over in their conditions. Q. (Indiscernible)? BRENDON McCULLUM: Yeah, that is definitely one of the options. It's probably a game without having to speak into the other guys and can't go into it too much. But both him and Mills are bowling back up. So one of those two will get the nod if Milne is ruled out. Q. And Kane is back to a hundred? BRENDON McCULLUM: I think so. He's here today. It's hard to keep him down for too long, so he'll be indoors for a good, three, four hours no doubt knowing Kane. But he seems fine. Couple of us older fellows wouldn't have minded a little dose of what he's had. But everyone else seems okay. Q. In terms of the tournament, you haven't bowled your 50 overs or batted your 50 overs. Part of what you are, one game away. Would you like a decent head out to push the guys and see more guys under pressure? BRENDON McCULLUM: No, not really. Because I think for us it's just about winning and however you can get that job done is important. So the fact that we've had the ability to bowl teams out in front to 200 and pretty much every opportunity we've had, we've had batters first, we've managed to get over 300. It's a matter of some guys might be a little light on some hard game time under pressure late in a game. But it's, I guess, a byproduct of success we've been having along the way. So there is no formula that says every game at some point during the tournament you're going to come up against a tight situation or a high-scoring thriller. Yeah, we played a very tight game against Australia, and we managed to find a way to get across the line. So we've got to take those lessons and those comforts from the performances that we've been able to stack up over the last few weeks and come what may over the next sort of while, I'm confident that our team is in the right space and right order and we'll be tough to beat if we play well. Q. Why is Daniel Vettori such an outstanding One Day bowler? Has anyone given him a good thrashing in the nets in your experience? BRENDON McCULLUM: Why is he such an outstanding bowler? I think just the experience that he's been able to build up over a long period of time. I think when he first came into International Cricket, the physique of the man has changed a lot over the years. I think so has the beard and the back hair. But, yeah, his development as a cricketer throughout his career has been phenomenal. He's referred to as a bit of a wizard as well from teams over in Australia, and his art and his ability to just read a game and the ability to use a change of pace and subtle change of pace is something which I think not too many other guys around the world have such skill at. Couple years ago he was struggling for fitness, and I think what we've seen over the last few weeks is a guy who's gone away, worked incredibly hard on his fitness, and still has the drive within him to be part of the New Zealand team that was able to achieve something special or at least given themselves a good chance to do so. Now we watch him in the field and he's running around as if he's one of the youngsters in the group. That's great from a captain and coach point of view to see one of your older or elder guys within the team still trying to give as much as he can in the field and show those characteristics. He's a huge player. He's a very good man. He's also one of my close mates as well. We're teammates now even after cricket is finished, he's one of those guys that you'll spend a lot of time with. We're lucky to have him, and he certainly makes our team a lot stronger. Q. (Indiscernible)? BRENDON McCULLUM: I've tried a couple of times, but it hasn't really worked. Not too many guys are able to get on top of him, I think. Yeah, he's just got that ability to be able to, I guess, chop and change his pace and make it look a little bit silly. So you normally try to get down the other end against him in the net and wait for one of the other fellows to come on. Q. Ross is one of the guys who has been a bit short, the way you've been winning but he's missed out a couple times when he's gone in. Given his pivotal position, is that a concern over some of the other guys that have not had a major hit? BRENDON McCULLUM: No, it was not a major concern. It wasn't long ago that Ross peeled off 300s in pretty quick time as well. So he's been short of opportunity throughout this World Cup, just through the nature of us bowling as well as we have and obviously chasing down the runs. So I'm not worried about that at all. I think he's a world class player. I've said it time and time again. The number three and four punch we have on our team I wouldn't swap for anyone around the world as well. The class players stand up and perform. So I expect Ross will be heavy on the runs in the next few weeks if we can continue to progress in the tournament. Q. Certainly a lot of talk from the Bangladeshi camp about targeting you in particular and spin as a potential weakness. Do you take that as an extra personal challenge or do you dismiss talk like that? BRENDON McCULLUM: Well, I guess it is talk, isn't it. You can't get too wound up in the talk. The game is played with bat and ball, and tomorrow I guess we'll see what unfolds. I'm sure that Bangladesh will operate with a slower bowlers and it's, I guess, one of the quirks against playing when you play against a team like Bangladesh. The pitch, we'll see what unfolds tomorrow with them being under covers for a little bit as well. We'll see what tactics are to be employed. But I guess we'll wait and see. You never know until the game gets underway. So respectfully just wait and see what tomorrow has got to bring. Q. Just following on from that, when opposition players or coaches or whatever talk about targeting players, would you rather that we're talking about targeting you? Is that something that you welcome? BRENDON McCULLUM: I don't think too much about it to be honest. Sort of the game is the game and, as I said, once the game starts then all the pre-match talk, all the targeting or what have you that leads into it is kind of irrelevant once the game gets underway. I know that I'm not good enough to focus on other things outside of the ball coming at me, and that's how I try to make sure that I get myself in the best frame of mind. So talk is kind of irrelevant, and it's about the actions which fold out in the middle. Q. Just on the illness that's been going through the camp, Grant and Kane. Has anyone else had it or is suffering from it at the moment? BRENDON McCULLUM: I'm not sure. I think Mick would like it. I'm not sure if too many other fellas within the group. No, I don't know. Is everyone else all right? Yeah, they're all good. Q. Obviously, your worst nightmare I suppose at a tournament to have something like this run through the team, especially when you're getting to the business end of the tournament. Have you had to do anything different this week to try to safeguard against taking down other members of the team? BRENDON McCULLUM: No. But it is what it is. If half your team goes down, then we can't do anything about it. You can't break your team up. We've got to get on with it. The cards that fall in your hand, and we'll play the hand accordingly. I'm confident that even the guys on the bench, when they get the opportunity, they'll come in and play really well and give us a good chance. We can't worry too much about what might go wrong from an illness or injury point of view. Q. Why is Shakib such an effective all-arounder particularly against New Zealand? BRENDON McCULLUM: He's a very good cricketer. I played with Shakib at Calcutta as well. Got to know him. He's a lovely guy as well. He's got a great outlook on not just cricket but life in general as well. He's been very successful as one of the pioneers of Bangladesh cricket to be able to get them to the level of following that they have and the performance they've had over a period of time. He's a very smart cricketer. He's got, obviously, all-around skills as well. He's got a real bit of fight in him too, and he's certainly one of the guys who every time we play against Bangladesh has performed pretty well in the games they've been in. So he's going to be a threat for us tomorrow. We'll make sure we try to keep him quiet. But if he has his day, he has his day as well. Q. Were you surprised by the intensity of the quick bowlers of Bangladesh against England the other night? Is that good from your perspective to have a hard wicket against them tomorrow? BRENDON McCULLUM: Yeah, I think the development of their skills in general has improved a lot over the last few years. They've always been tough at home, I think, and us losing seven games would testify. But their ability to now travel, and they don't always get the performance on the board, but I think you're seeing their skillset develop as well. I think what we saw the other night with a couple of the guys there, the threat that they pose with ball in hand for their quick bowlers is a lot more dangerous than what they did a few years ago. So I guess that is the sheer weight of numbers as well that Bangladesh possesses, and the passion for the game is starting to flow through so you're starting to see talent rise to the top, and they'll become a very tough proposition over the next few years as well. But tomorrow's going to be tough. The quick bowlers are going to ask us some questions, especially if it juices up a little bit. But we've faced some good quick bowlers over the last little while too. So I hope we'll be able to combat that. Q. Do you have any concerns at all? You haven't been tested apart from Australia. You're all looking pretty healthy in all facets. Is that any concern or are you happy for it to continue as long as possible? BRENDON McCULLUM: Yeah, I'm happy for it to continue as long as possible. You'd argue that we have been tested, but I think we've come through those tests. Score lines may not suggest that we have. But sometimes score lines flatter how hard a game can be as well. I think we've been tested considerably throughout the tournament, and I think we've found a way to get ourselves through those situations and it's really a pleasing aspect. We're going to be tested over the next sort of while as well, and we've just got to make sure that we still glean the confidence from what we've been able to achieve, remain incredibly stoic, I guess, in ourself-belief about how we can play, and I guess execute our strategy as well and that will give us a good chance. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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