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ICC WOMEN'S WORLD T20

November 21, 2018

Stafanie Taylor

North Sound, Antigua and Barbuda

Q. How exciting is it, home tournament, playing in front of hopefully a big crowd? What's the feeling in the team ahead of tomorrow?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: The feeling for everyone has been really good. We had a good practice day. Everyone went through their routine, and feeling pumped and ready for tomorrow.

Q. You know the home conditions. You probably have seen the pitch. What kind of a pitch do you think it'll be tomorrow?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: I'm not sure what kind of pitch it will be for tomorrow, seeing that we haven't played much cricket here. But my assumption is I think it would be a good one. Pretty decent.

Q. Pretty decent for who, the batting side or the bowling side?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: You mean in terms of the pitch? I can't say, to be honest. I can't really say.

Q. We've seen Antigua in the warmup game, as well, had a slightly slow wicket. Practice pitches were slightly slow. You have a very seam-heavy, base-heavy bowling attack. Do you see that as a concern or something that might change?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Well, we have a pretty balanced team. Whatever team we pick can basically do the job. Not necessarily seam friendly or spin friendly, it's just more likely a balanced team.

Q. The batting has only really come off once so far this tournament. Are you thinking of changing the batting lineup, and are you happy batting at No. 3 yourself?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Yeah, I'm pretty much happy with my position. So far we haven't thought or thinking of making any changes, and if so, it will be a discussion between coaches and I. But as far as I'm concerned, nothing really.

Q. Throughout the series so far, the whole unit seems to have a real determined self-belief to it that whatever challenges that are thrown at you, you feel that you have the confidence to overcome. Would that be a fair enough assessment?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Yeah, we've been -- the bowling has been really good, and I believe the crowd that we had in St. Lucia imparted on most of the players if not all of the players -- the crowd there was electrifying, and I believe that transpired on to the field of play.

Q. And your own form, looking for a big one, obviously?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Yeah, I would love to finish these two games, hopefully in the final, with two -- half a century or runs that would contribute to the team's success.

Q. You had a couple of legends come by the team training yesterday. Can you talk about what happened then and what they told you and what it meant to the team?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Sorry, I didn't get that.

Q. You had a couple of legends come by for team training yesterday. Can you talk about what it meant for the team and what they told you?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: It was nice to see Sir Viv and Sir Andy Roberts there. They talked to us a bit going into tomorrow's semifinal. It was really nice to hear some encouraging words. At this stage, there's a lot of nerves flying around, and it's good to hear encouraging words to kind of settle that down. So we more likely look forward to tomorrow.

Q. The win against the Australians in 2016, does that mean anything ahead of tomorrow?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: No, it doesn't. You know, that's the past, and tomorrow is definitely what comes. I have a feeling that the Aussies might look at it as a revenge, but for us, that's the past, and tomorrow's game is definitely what counts.

Q. That win against England in the circumstances, was that like the perfect preparation? You just seemed so pumped to get the win then.
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Yeah, as I said, we as players, we've been playing some really good cricket, especially our bowling. Confidence level of everyone is high, and I think that belief is just right there. You know, the girls have that belief that we could go out there and do it.

Q. You mentioned past performances not really being sort of on your mind, but no one has seemed to find a solution to Alyssa Healy. Has anyone done any research on how Australia has played and is West Indies prepared to deal with Alyssa Healy?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Well, we're prepared to deal with any player, not just Healy. She's in form, yes, but at the end of the day, it's not she alone playing. So we're prepared for any player.

Q. And Anisa Mohammed hasn't had a lot of games in the tournament, but she is the most successful West Indies bowler against Australia. Does that kind of give her a pick?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Well, yes, she has been successful not just against Australia but throughout, and so far the team has been doing well. As I said, we have a balanced team. I'm not sure what the team will look like tomorrow, so that's the discussion with selector coaches and myself.

Q. Just looking ahead to the WBBL, will you be there first round, or you won't get there for that, because it seems pretty tight?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: I'm not sure in terms of WBBL, but hopefully. I'm hoping.

Q. You boldly decided to give Knight the gloves for this tournament, and she's delivered in a meaningful way. She had two good scores in the first two games and then she hit the winning run against England under pressure. Can you tell us a little bit about her and the level of confidence that she's having in this tournament?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Well, back then with Kycia, I like the finders. They find batters. And I thought Kycia has good technique -- well, she does have good technique. It was a bit of toss-up. I'm happy that she came and she got some runs, not just for the team but for her, because I know that she and I would have spoken -- she's struggled a bit in getting runs, and my thoughts is that she's in a good place, and she's batting well. She's keeping well. I'm happy for her, and I think she's happy for herself and feeling her confidence.

Q. Campbelle in the England game, as well, under pressure again and delivering big-time. She basically won the game going into the final over. A little bit on her, as well, because she was short of runs before but she's delivered.
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Yeah, Campbelle is one of those players, when she's needed in a tight situation like that, she pulls through. You know, even back then, like she was out of the team for a while, and she's back, and she's doing good things, so I hope that she continues to do great things. And I hope that that runs will give her a bit more boost going into tomorrow's game.

Q. 10,000 in St. Lucia, 13,000 in Antigua. What does that mean for your team in terms of support, and what does that mean for women's cricket in general?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Well, five months ago, I'm not sure anyone or a lot of people would know about women's cricket, and to see that amount of people coming to the game is elating. For me, and I'm sure players are elated, as well, to see that amount of people to come to support women's cricket, and I hope that it continues, so not just for tomorrow, but it continues for a longer time.

Q. Shabnim Ismail had said that she and Kapp made the best bowling pair. Now your seam bowlers, your pacers have brought something different, so where would you rank your pacers?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Where would I --

Q. Where would you rank your pacers?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Rank my pacers in terms of -- compared to Ismail? Or in the world? I think they're pretty up there, given this tournament. They would have worked really hard in the camps that we had five, six months ago, so I believe that the work they have put in, it's showed, and I would think that their ranking should improve.

Q. Has the team done any particular preparation in training for high-pressure situations, technically?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: For high-pressure situations? No. Every situation is pressure, no?

Q. Handing Kycia the gloves has given your team space for an extra batter. What was the thinking behind that decision considering Merissa has been there forever essentially?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: What was the thinking behind that? Well, Kycia has been really good in the outfield. I just thought that we needed that space basically maybe to field somebody else -- somebody else could field on the field, and given that we had three people, it was hard. It was a hard decision, and we thought that case I can't was the better one. So to put in an extra person, it was a toss-up. It was a toss-up, but we thought that Kycia might be the perfect match right there, not given the fact that Merissa isn't, but just at the time when looking at the team situation.

Q. It was a big risk coming into the World Cup, to try that out in the World Cup?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: No, I don't think it was. It's been discussed in our pre-camp, so I don't think it was a risk in the World Cup, no.

Q. You said six months ago a lot of people in the West Indies didn't know about women's cricket. After this tournament, what would you like to see change in terms of women's cricket on the ground?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Well, more cricket for us. I think that's what we lack. And hopefully we get to play some test match. I would love to play test match.

Q. So by more cricket, you mean international, not domestic?
STAFANIE TAYLOR: Yeah, well, and domestic. Longer domestic for sure.

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