ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

October 18, 2021

Curtis Campher

Sheikh Zayed Stadium

Ireland

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're just going to begin the press conference here with Ireland.

Q. Hi, Curtis. Congratulations. Quite the World Cup debut for you.

CURTIS CAMPHER: Yeah, I didn't really think it was going to happen like that. We've been training hard and just very fortunate to get that.

Q. The first over didn't go as planned and the first ball of your second over obviously was a wide. What was the feeling of yourself then?

CURTIS CAMPHER: I personally thought he hit it, so I went up straight away. It took a bit of convincing, but Bal was happy to send it upstairs.

Q. Obviously, you had another review on the same over?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Yeah, exactly. Bal is very good at that. He really goes to his bowlers and their instinct. Just very fortunate that he was very like that and open.

Q. That was the perfect cheers, I suppose. Everybody started out carrying his bat and the rest battled round him?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Yeah, I think so. I think Kev really put an emphasis into the innings up top there with two boundaries up top, and then Gareth, the way he played was spectacular. It wasn't an easy wicket. It was slow. Guys struggled to get timing, and the way he played was really the way we want to play as a team.

It just shows with the environment we have and the guys that are playing and the coaching staff back all of us and skip does too, it just shows the amount of freedom we play with.

Q. One down, two to go. Obviously, same again on Wednesday, I suppose, is the target?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Hopefully, we're just going to stick to our processes and make sure we do what we want to do. Bowlers making sure our discipline is already good, and we bring energy to the field, and hopefully the next game will go our way too.

Q. You obviously, to that over, half the wickets were from bowling straight. Was that very much a clear plan going into today, just trying to attack the stumps?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Yeah, I think so, it always is. Especially with my bowling style, it's short and skinny, so I do try to really target the stumps.

I think after my first over when I bowled two or three balls with some width and they got crushed away for four, I knew I couldn't bowl anywhere else besides straight. So that kind of worked our way.

Q. After the last one, after the Van Der Merwe wicket, the one that he dragged on, it's tough to tell from over here because obviously we're watching it on TV, but did it look like Bal was having a few words? It looked like he was almost saying don't be bowling that wide but you got the reward anyway? Was he just telling you to keep bowling straight anyway, or was there something else going on there?

CURTIS CAMPHER: You can't read into that at all. I don't even know what he said to be honest. I wasn't really focusing at all. Not really, no.

Q. Definitely a vote confidence from him that he kept you on even after that first over, like you said, when things went a bit wider. It seems like the amount of times I've heard his captaincy is quite standoffish and let's you get away with things. In between those two overs, does he have a word with you, or does he just throw you the ball again?

CURTIS CAMPHER: No, he throws us the ball all the time. I think he understands T20 cricket. He's been around a while, been here a long time and played a lot of tough cricket. He just really knows us as bowlers, he leaves us alone and really does as little as possible.

That really gives us a lot of freedom. He gives us the freedom to do what we want, and we make sure we have accountability for what we want to do. After my first over, I apologized to him. He said, listen, mate, don't ever worry about it. Just come back again.

Q. He didn't say bowl straight, or you knew that yourself?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Listen, everyone knows to bowl straight. If you bowl five half volleys or on the wide line, everyone knows to bowl straight. I don't think you have to explain that to us.

Q. Firstly, congratulations on that. It's not often -- you must have been very relieved when the hat trick ball was overturned or reviewed?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Yeah, to be honest, any time you get an opportunity to take a wicket in international cricket, it's a real privilege. Yeah, lucky it went my way today. Nothing else about that. Any wicket I can do for the team is a real boost.

Q. Was it difficult to compose yourself? Obviously a hat trick is such a momentous day. Was it difficult to sort of compose yourself for the next ball?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Yeah, my heart was racing quite high, but I just took a few deep breaths at the top of my run and tried to make sure I managed my skills.

Obviously, I didn't really -- after that over, I didn't really finish the last over as well as I wanted to, but I'm learning. I'm young. I'm just trying to do the best I can.

Q. And how much confidence does that give you personally going into the rest of the tournament?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Personally for me, it gives us a lot of momentum. As a bowling unit, when you have three guys going under sixes, it makes a big difference. I thought as a unit we were really good. Another day I can go for 10s or 12s, but the pressure the guys built managed to make me get the wickets.

So to Mark Adair, Josh, Simi, and Whitey, we hounded as a unit, we hunted as a unit, and I was just lucky today to get the results.

Q. Taking four wickets in four balls, I think alongside Rashid Khan in T20 Internationals. Tell us how that feels.

CURTIS CAMPHER: Sorry, I couldn't quite hear you there. To be honest, I wasn't really thinking about it. Maybe it will set in a little bit later. I was just trying to do what I wanted to do. We knew when ten Doeschate walked in, that we had to go straight to them, and that worked. Then we just carried on with Edwards too. Both of those plans worked out from the analysis, and it kind of fit into my game.

Maybe in a few hours or a few days, it might rub off, but to be honest, I'm just happy with the win, and that's all that matters.

Q. Would you like to dedicate this spell to someone and be thankful to everybody who has worked hard with you?

CURTIS CAMPHER: To be honest, probably my parents. They've been my support for my whole life, and they've given me the opportunity to do what I want to do what I love, and they've always backed me fully. So it's nice to have that support. Yeah, just basically to them, yeah.

Q. To speak to your recent injury, first of all, how's the shoulder? How much is it nice just to be out there again and playing cricket after all of that?

CURTIS CAMPHER: I might sound like a broken record, but right now I'm just really enjoying my cricket. I'm just happy to be on the park and have this opportunity.

I think people take for granted if you play a long time, it's nice to get -- obviously, no one wants to have injuries, but to bounce back and actually start enjoying my cricket, just be grateful out there, whether I get hit for 60 or 70 or don't score a run, I'm just happy to be out there playing for my country.

Q. Should have asked you, Curtis, have you taken a hat trick before?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Yeah, I have once before, but this is a lot different, a lot more special for sure.

Q. Who was that for?

CURTIS CAMPHER: Just club cricket. Definitely not the same level. But just really grateful. It will probably sink in in about a few hours or a few days, but just really happy to get the result.