ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

October 22, 2021

Max O'Dowd

Sharjah Stadium

Netherlands

Post Match Media Conference

Sri Lanka 45/2, Netherlands 44

Q. What really happened out there with the batting performance?

MAX O'DOWD: It was pretty catastrophic, wasn't it. No other words to describe it. Embarrassing, I guess. Mostly just disappointing. I just -- yeah, it's not the Dutch team that I know, to roll over like that.

Yeah, just extremely disappointed because I know we're so much better than that, and to do that on a big stage is even more disappointing.

Yeah, no real words.

Q. Being an associate nation, how happy are you to see Namibia going through to the Super 12?

MAX O'DOWD: I am extremely happy to see Namibia go through to be honest. I think they've worked very hard. They've been underestimated a lot, so to see those boys go through, I'm extremely happy for them. If it wasn't us, it was going to be them. Yeah, glad to see those boys go through.

Q. How do you see the Sri Lankan spinners, especially Maheesh Theekshana?

MAX O'DOWD: Oh, just too good for us today, obviously. I think you can't go back and play across the line on a wicket like that. You know, it's not something we face very often, being from the Netherlands. These boys are extremely skilled, and Hasaranga put it on a spot and got it going both ways, and you don't know it's coming.

It's pretty tough to play, especially if you're playing across the line. So fair play to those boys; they were outstanding. We just weren't good enough today, and that's cricket. We'll be back stronger, I know that.

Q. Max, a bit of a surprise to see Ryan ten Doeschate left out today. Do you know the reasons behind it?

MAX O'DOWD: No, I don't. Well, I do, but I'm not going to say. I think that was a decision they all made behind closed doors, and I think everyone was content with that decision. Yeah, that's all I've got for you.

Q. Could you say a word or two then about his career and what he's given to the Netherlands?

MAX O'DOWD: Well, I mean, I've played with Tendo for -- first time I met him was 2017 when he came and played World Cricket League 2 with us, and just his presence and his aura was something pretty special, and I think we changed the culture we had by that stage and he was impressed. That just gave him that extra boost, I think, to try even harder.

Yeah, he's been a great service to Dutch cricket and associate cricket in general. The numbers he's put up is pretty amazing. To have a guy like that around is, yeah, phenomenal for young guys, just to learn off him. He gives plenty of wisdom, and I'm sure he will do when he takes to a coaching role at some stage.

Q. Do you think the preparation for this big event did not go as much as it should have, or were there areas you should have worked on?

MAX O'DOWD: Yeah, the good question is what preparation, because we've had three games leading into probably the biggest event of our lives, one being a game against Oman and a game against Scotland and a last-minute game against New Zealand. Our preparation for what is probably the biggest event of our lives has been very slim, so that's extremely disappointing, and we're going to have to look back at that and see why we've done that. I'm sure there's some sort of implications with COVID that have led to that decision, but I know for a fact you can't go through games, three warmup games into the biggest tournament like this and expect to perform.

So that is, I think, extremely disappointing, but that doesn't take away from the way we played because we were poor over three games. We just couldn't put it together. But I do think that comes with preparation games. If you play -- I remember the 2019 qualifiers, we played 12 warmup games, we lost I think 11, won one and then we won the qualifiers. That just shows if you can have a bit of time to figure something out, come that first game you know it's a big stage, you get firing, and you can't just do that off three warmup games.