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ICC WOMEN'S WORLD T20November 24, 2018Heather KnightMark RobinsonNorth Sound, Antigua and Barbuda Australia - 106/2, England - 105 Q. Are you disappointed by that performance? HEATHER KNIGHT: Obviously disappointed to lose a World Cup final. You put all the preparation in, probably didn't play our best cricket tonight. We just kept sort of losing momentum in the innings, I guess, with those wickets. Never really got sort of the big partnership together that's going to push us on. And turned out not to be a competitive score and be heroes and was going to chase the game. Obviously at that point we didn't have enough points on the board. Q. Did you think you had a shot at the halfway stage? HEATHER KNIGHT: You have to. You have to believe that you are still in the game and you've got a chance. And the girls fought so hard all tournament, so we knew that wasn't going to be the issue, but we needed early wickets to put pressure on them. I thought Sophie Ecclestone was outstanding. She bowled brilliantly. And that was her first final as well, the way she bowled was great to see. But, yeah, we weren't able to break the shackles and without scoring the ball we weren't able to put any pressure on the Aussie batters. Q. Australia are obviously a very very well resourced side. Do you think that comes into it? Is it perhaps inevitable that the better resourced side in world cricket wins the tournament? Particularly, Robo, can you comment on that? MARK ROBINSON: Resourses don't win games of cricket; players do. There's some outstanding women cricketers who are not in Australia or England -- Kaur, Lee, people like that -- and those girls can win games by themselves, and the wield they obviously have is an advantage in the sense of the attraction and the volume of players you can get. But you can have all the money and all the systems in the world, but it's players that win matches. And just Australia, they've had a great three months. They took some great momentum into this competition and they went away winners tonight. Q. You said before the tournament you thought England almost had a point to prove in T20. You might not have won but do you feel you've proved that point? HEATHER KNIGHT: I'm definitely proud of how the girls performed. Proud that we made it to another final. We came in with a very inexperienced side, and some of those players that came in, like Sophia Dunkley, Kirstie Gordon, have stepped up and performed outstandingly. And that's really an exciting thing that made it a real positive for us to take forward. It's obviously moving forward a real positive for us to take forward, but it's raw at the moment. We've got to sort of reflect, get back home and reflect on where we go potentially as a side. But really tough for those young girls that have come out here and really performed on the biggest stage. Q. Mark, obviously disappointment tonight, but in the last 16 months, two world finals, one trophy. How do you reflect on this period? MARK ROBINSON: Yeah, we've done well and in some ways getting to this final was a huge achievement, I think. It hasn't been a smooth ride. St. Lucia was tough. It's interesting, all the top run scores have come from the other group and that reflects the wickets and everything. And tonight we just couldn't get any momentum. It was a bit of frustration because it's the one that got away a little bit because Australia was jittery, you saw that in the field. But it was just an overridden first half of the game by everybody -- probably the officials, the fielders and the batting team. And then you underpar, and as Heather said, you're just chasing shadows. Heather did brilliantly. She's got to keep extra fields in the ring and what you want to try to do in any circumstance is to try and get the wicket. But the team consistently showed great character and have done for a period of time. And that's the main thing, as Heather said. We took a young team, we were missing a couple of players, we felt had enough to win this match today but it wasn't to be. And as I say, huge congratulations to Australia. They've had an outstanding three months. Q. Heather, I imagine this is going to be one of those tougher moments. What's the mood like in the dressing room, and what have you said or will say to the players? HEATHER KNIGHT: Yeah, we're obviously really disappointed. I think when you lose a game that convincingly, it's not as hard to take. I think we were completely outplayed today. We know we didn't bring our best game. But we've got to take the good things that we have from this tournament. I couldn't be more proud of how the girls have fought, the character we've shown. But like you said, we obviously didn't have enough on the pitch today to make it there. But we'll let it sink in a little bit, reflect and then make a plan moving forward. you see two young players, one on each team, doing something special. Q. A lot of questions about the ball when you were bowling. Can you tell us about what conversations you were having with the umpires? HEATHER KNIGHT: The ball soaked up and -- a lot of water. And the umpires were getting the fact they let us change the ball a few times because it was nearly impossible to grip, but it was similar for Australia, similar conditions, and ones you have to deal with when you do come up against them. Q. Did you think about maybe having bowled first or? HEATHER KNIGHT: Would I think about bowling first? No, I don't think so. I think I'd stick by my decision to bat first. I want to put runs on the board. It was a better wicket in the semifinal, and as this gets on, we potentially didn't adapt as well as we did. I thought Dani Wyatt was outstanding, the way she set the tone for the innings. Unfortunately we couldn't carry on the momentum. We kept losing wickets, like I said earlier, but just started and -- I wouldn't have changed any decision at all. MARK ROBINSON: Both teams were going to bat. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. You get the extra 20, 30 runs and it's a different game. But unfortunately we didn't. So you sat here answering those types of questions which is fair enough. Q. Robo, you brought three young players here on the back of their great performances in the Super League. That's got one more season left to run. In 2020, there will be no elite Twenty20 competition in England for the domestic players. Does that worry you? MARK ROBINSON: Ah, I don't know, I had lots of things that I'd like to make different -- science, Brexit and the lot. I don't know. At the moment you just got beat in this game, and the carousel gave us a great opportunity for Kirstie and Sophie and Linsey to be selected. So there's going to be replacement competition, which will give great opportunities again for young players and hopefully an investment into the domestic structure which will, as I say, allow professional sport to be a career option for more girls which can only be a good thing. Look we've got to say a big thank you to the West Indies, what a great time, what a great party to put on. All the grounds, all the people. We've been looked after wonderfully. And the two islands we've been on they need special mention. Want to throw that one in. Q. I was going to ask Robo, do you think that the benefit of hindsight, and Heather as well, maybe you didn't play your final on Thursday to the extent the emotional drain getting up to that semifinal, playing so well, bowling so well in particular. Do you think, it's not necessarily hype to get up for today, but looking at it as a whole that maybe that took a lot out of you? MARK ROBINSON: I think both teams were in the same boat. But I think both teams would have preferred the extra day preparation. It was quite a tough turnaround and maybe that was down, something to -- if Australia went with their bats into the field, maybe that was a reason. But it is what it is, and you've got to do your best. We didn't bat well enough, but we know that. The extra day would have been a big difference for such a big occasion. Q. Heather, in terms of the psychological side of it, getting back out two days later, did you feel, not necessarily that you weren't "up" for today, but that it took a lot out of you? HEATHER KNIGHT: No, I don't think so. You obviously have the high of the semifinal, that sort of win, you try to park it quite quickly and move on. Like Robo said, an extra day would have been ideal, but it was very similar for both teams, and we knew what we had to come up against. And I don't think that was any reason at all why we lost. Q. And are you looking forward to getting to Australia now? Like, there are some three-four players going to the Big Bash, maybe four or five? Is that something that, again, will be really taxing? HEATHER KNIGHT: No, I'm excited to go, to be honest. I'm looking forward to getting back in the ranks and playing and being captain. It will be quite nice. But got a couple nights at home, and then head out there. And really excited to get playing in the Big Bash again. Just want to keep improving, keep working on my T20 game. And that's a perfect opportunity to do that straightaway. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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