ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

October 20, 2022

Gerhard Erasmus

David Wiese

Kardinia Park

Namibia

Post Match Media Conference

UAE 148/3, Namibia 141/8

THE MODERATOR: Good evening. We start with the interviews now. We'll take questions from the journalists present here.

Q. Can you put into words just how you're feeling at the moment because you got so close?

GERHARD ERASMUS: Yeah, I think can't really put it into words. I think last year we were at the end of this, so it's tough to sort of be trying to decipher with the last two games where it went wrong.

But I think, all in all, we just didn't play well enough for the two wins. If I can be hard on ourselves, we had sort of -- after that first game a little.

It's, obviously, very disappointing having lost two in a row now it's hard to get your head around it. There was change in momentum, obviously, after the first game after that high, which was in a way seems it might have been inevitable, but I think we tried in both games to sort of do the rescue. I guess as a cricketer, as a leader, at least you want to start off well, play a proper game and win properly.

Although that doesn't always happen, I think we stuck to it very nicely to try to put a good fight into both of those games, having not started very well in those games. It speaks a lot to our culture and our way of playing.

Yeah, so really proud of that, if I can get that out there. I'm really proud of the guys. I'm really proud of the coaching staff, how we've responded in tough situations.

But as a cricketer, you would like to think that you want to play -- out of those two games, you would have liked to have played one proper game of cricket skill-wise.

It's more about skill. It's about the team and take the two points to qualify. So yeah ...

Q. It might be a bit too early to reflect on it. That first game was so momentous. Do you think it took something out of you or perhaps even subconsciously because you had that win whoever it was against in the first game, you might have been complacent because you had that cushion?

GERHARD ERASMUS: I think tournament cricket can often be quite a funny one with the Gods of momentum and how a tournament pans out, momentum swings.

And as you said, it was an emotional first game, so with those momentum swings come different patterns of play and different stakes coming to play and all of that.

I think coming here we knew we had to win two games. That win against Sri Lanka, it was all about just pitching and performing again.

Although it's tough to sometimes as player to sort of control the momentum swings that you have in tournaments, and I think as a team, it's sometimes often very tough to control the time you peak at in a tournament because often it's not even in your control, if I can put it like that, how the momentum swings and how things play out in the tournament, the Gods of points and matchups and all of that.

As a professional and as a cricketer, you know there's going to be that sort of momentum swing and that emotional swing about tournament cricket, and we knew that beforehand. We knew that after the Sri Lankan game.

We told each other that this is going to be even be tough to get through because we've got two sides who are quality sides, and we need to beat both of them. That was our goal was to win all three games.

Regardless of any of those sort of high points and low points and momentum swings, I think we knew what the task was, and as a professional, as a cricketer, we definitely had enough mental strength, we had enough preparation, we had enough skill in our bodies to get 2 out of 3 wins or 3 out of 3 wins. So, yeah ...

Q. You said you were hard on yourselves when you analyze this. Is there something to be said of the format where you are playing three really tough games in five days, and that after played a very -- qualification process?

GERHARD ERASMUS: Yeah, obviously we hadn't played in the qualification process, so we came into this quite fresh, but off the back of also One Day cricket, and other teams had been playing.

I think three games in five days is quite a lot. Possibly not physically that much, but perhaps mentally all of that as a sportsman you start to understand what is required mentally and physically to play in high-stakes tournaments like this.

Yes, I do think that three games in five days is quite a lot, and it's quite a quick turnaround. Instant need for a quicker reset once you have such a big game like we had against Sri Lanka. Two days after is quite a quick turnaround, but I don't think it's any excuse for our situation.

Although it can be tiring, I don't think that is any of the reasons of not qualifying. I think that's just part of playing the game and getting paid for what you do.

Q. Were you taken back at the choice of the bowler in Muhammad Waseem, who hardly bowls (indiscernible).

DAVID WIESE: When we were out there, I was looking at the bowlers, and I knew at some stage I would have to bowl the spinners. I felt that their seamers Junaid and Zahoor bowled really nicely and executed their skills well. Those were the spinners that we were going to target.

We weren't really expecting him to come on, but when you came on at the end of the day as a part-timer, so you would expect him to miss one or two, but he bowled well tonight. He executed his skill. End of the day, we just didn't have enough in us at the end of this. Fair play to them. Well bowled.

Q. You've obviously played for some of the biggest teams in the world. You happily come back from play for Namibia bowling. When there's nobody watching and you look about as dejected as I've seen you after a game today, what is it about this team? What means so much to you to play for this team?

DAVID WIESE: I think, you know, as a cricketer nowadays, there's so many tournaments, and you hone your skills and play in all these different tournaments, but it's always nice to have that home base, and it's always nice to have a team that you can resonate with, that is close to your heart and a team that you know their heart is in the right place.

Being a tournament player, it's quite often in for four weeks, out, and self-preservation. You do well in that tournament; you get picked up in the next one

It's a different story for you playing for your country. There's a part playing for your country and wanting to do well for your country. The attachment I have to these guys, they're such hard-working guys, such good human beings. You just want the best for them.

I think that's just the main thing is that always believe that good things happen to good people. And it's really a good bunch of guys, good hard-working lads. I think that's just the most disappointing part is that for them we wouldn't get the opportunity to showcase their skills in the next round, which is particularly disappointing.

Q. David, just maybe talk us through the way that you planned that innings. It looked very difficult for Namibia at one point, but then there must have been a point where you thought, hang on, we're still in this. If you could maybe just talk through that? And then, you know, how did you approach that last over?

DAVID WIESE: Yes, so we knew that the game kind of -- because we lost those wickets in the middle there, we couldn't really afford to go too early. I had to take it deep, try to take it as late as possible.

We saw from their innings batting that they got a couple in the end there. So I just tried to stay out there as long as I possibly could with still having positive intent.

They bowled nicely in the middle, and they had all the momentum. So we knew if we could just hold a little bit longer and stay there until the end, maybe we could cause a little panic and get one or two big overs in there. With the short -- I always thought there was a possibility to get one or two big overs.

It was all just about we've got to stay being better for longer. Just trying to stay out there as long as possible and be that guy that's there in the last over and hitting those winning runs. And, unfortunately, it just didn't work out that way tonight. They executed their skills nicely there in the end, and we just fell short.

Q. You spoke so passionately about the way you feel about the Namibian team. I know last year you said your goal is to make it here this year. It's probably not the time to ask you this, but do you think you will still keep going there?

DAVID WIESE: There's another World Cup in 2024 that we're going to qualify for. That's my next goal.

I'm still feeling good. I'm still feeling as good as I've ever been playing as well as I have. So as long as they'll have me, I'll keep coming back for them.

Yeah, I've definitely still got a lot of cricket left in me for Namibia.

Q. To Gerhard, commiserations, obviously. What do you think you will do from this point? When you go back to your teammates, what kinds of conversations do you need to have with them because there are obviously some guys for whom this was really important, including yourself?

GERHARD ERASMUS: Sorry, I didn't get the last part.

Q. I was just asking that this obviously meant so much to so many people. What can you do to manage the emotions and just kind of see how the guys are doing?

GERHARD ERASMUS: I think, obviously, for us the turnaround to November is now not that quick anymore.

I think for now it's just a matter of sort of affecting all of that. I think in tough situations like this it's when you shape new great things to happen. I've seen many teams use some form of disappointment like this to recreate another phase of success for themselves.

So I really look forward to doing that with the team, look forward to doing that as a leader. I think very important for us, obviously, over the next four months period until next February to really nail our One Day cricket and get the maximum points in the One-day League in order to stay in that.

All in all, that's mostly our focus over the next four months or six months or so. Very important cricket coming up for us, and this disappointment should just really sort of spur us forward to more of that success. We now understand how important the One Day stuff is for us. With the Gods of T20, as I just said, it's not too long, and then there's another T20 World Cup and great opportunities for the guys to play.

Yes, a lot of things to take from this, a lot of resets to make, I guess. What that is, I don't know as yet, but I think, obviously, some guys gained great experience from this tournament. The guy like Divan La Cock, some of the youngsters, gained great experience.

In order to continue strengthening our quad and deepening our squad, this was invaluable experience again for the guys. Yeah, it's all about just maybe getting away from cricket for a bit and recuperating mentally and getting strong again for One Day cricket, which is very important, as I said, over the next six months.