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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

June 11, 2019

Steve Rhodes

Bristol, Gloucestershire, UK

Q. With this result, where does Bangladesh go from here?
STEVE RHODES: Yeah, very frustrating. We really targeted this sort of game is two points, and I know that Sri Lanka would have fought very hard and no pushovers at all. But we do see it as one point lost, and that's disappointing, but realistically, what can we do about it? Absolutely nothing. And now all we can do is win our games coming up, one at a time and just think of that, which is the next game West Indies and try and win that, and then win the next one after that. That's all we can do. It's out of our control, the way the weather is.

Q. What about Shakib's situation now?
STEVE RHODES: Yeah, so he picked up a little injury, as you all saw in that game against England. He fought on and battled on, and played extremely well with an injury.

We're very, very optimistic that the treatment that he'll get this week and the way that he can recover well; we're very optimistic that he can play in that next game against West Indies.

Q. Would you like to see we reserve days built into the schedule?
STEVE RHODES: Yeah, I would. I think when you look, if you know the English weather, sadly, we're going to get a lot of rain. We never know when the rain's going to come. People from all over the world keep asking me whether it's going to rain; I don't know. But at the moment, we're seeing some problems. And I know logistically, it would have been a big headache for the tournament organisers, and I know that it would have been difficult, but we have got quite a lot of time in between games, and if we have got to travel a day later, then so be it. We put men on the moon (laughing) so why can't we have a reserve day, when actually this tournament is a long tournament. They are spread out, the games. I would say that it's disappointing for the crowd, as well. They have got tickets to see a game of cricket, and you know, it would be up to them if they can get there the day after.

Q. You've obviously said you've got West Indies next. They have come out the first two games and bowled a lot of short stuff. Are you expecting that, and how do your boys plan to combat that?
STEVE RHODES: Well, the answer's yes, definitely. Of course, we've all seen what they have done, but not just the West Indies. There's a lot of the other teams, as well. England have shown that sort of potency or attack method in this World Cup so far. We've got certain ways of dealing with that. I'm very, very happy with the way we play the white ball, particularly, when it's short. I think you've seen some of our games in particular against South Africa, that didn't worry us. I think the England game, with the likes of Archer, well, he's quite a special pace. Difficult to pick up, as well. We've played against the West Indies bowlers, recently, as well, out in Ireland. Certainly Oshane Thomas, as well, when we played against him in Bangladesh just before Christmas. So we are well aware of what they have got and we know what's coming and we've got some plans to try and deal with that.

Q. As you say, you have played West Indies in Ireland, also in home. So what do you think the biggest challenge against West Indies; stopping their explosive batsman or facing their short bowls?
STEVE RHODES: I think a lot depends. One of their most explosive players is Andre Russell, and he's a formidable opponent. He's one of the best hitters in the game, by far, and on his day, he can be very, very difficult to bowl at. So he can take a game away from you, but they have others, like all these international teams. We'd expect the opposition. But we're very pleased with the way we play the white ball, and we know we've got some good players ourselves, so we won't be worrying too much about who we're playing against, and we'll be hopeful that they are going to worry about some of our players.

Q. You got most of the teams, they are using wrist spinners in the middle overs, but you have two finger spinners that you are depending heavily on. So what would you like to attribute that; the fact that they are world-class?
STEVE RHODES: Yeah, so if we had a very good wrist spinner, a very good wrist spinner in Bangladesh; I'm pretty sure he would be here. But we don't pick people just for the sake of it. You just mentioned there, these are your quotes, that the two finger spinners we have are excellent and top quality. I'd very much rather go into games with top-quality bowlers than maybe somebody who is substandard, maybe not quite up to that level but a wrist spinner. Some of the teams have not always been playing a wrist spinner. The had one -- the one in New Zealand is a good example of that. So you play your best 11. You play your best 11 for that game, those conditions, and with those 6 finger spinners, and they have finger spinners, and we are very confident about their abilities and what they can do.

Q. This is a question about the tournament in general. There was lots of talk pre-tournament about 350 and 400. That's not quite happened. Will it change after this weather, and do you see toss playing a part as we go on?
STEVE RHODES: Okay. So I think that without giving away maybe some of the advantages I bring to Bangladesh, knowing the conditions and the country very well for cricket, but some of the boundaries are a bit bigger than expected, and I think that's something to do with the boundary boards not moving. These are electrical boundary boards, and it takes a lot of work to move them around for the various pitches. So that's the reason you you're seeing bigger outfields, bigger hits for 6, and maybe less 4s because there's more 2s and 3s run. That's one of the reasons. The weather plays its part, as well, because this weather can slow outfields down, and the one thing that everybody expected in England was fast outfields. Now, they come about in a good spell of weather. So the runs will increase as the weather improves (laughing) if it does improve. The runs will get bigger and bigger. As far as the toss, I don't think it will have a great deal of effects. We're getting a little bit later in the summer now, and the white ball, the white Kookaburra does not nip around as much as the red ones do in England.

Whilst you may have a bit of movement, if it's been, for example, under covers all the day before, sweating up, but not a lot. It's more to do with outfields and size of grounds why they have been a little bit less runs scored. But I've actually enjoyed that, you know, because I think it makes for a wonderful game of cricket. I think it brings the bowlers and the fielding side back into the game more, and actually, you know, if you love your cricket, there's a bit of a game of chess going on out there, rather than just biff, biff, which I particularly enjoy, as a lover of the game.

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