ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2022

October 25, 2022

Heinrich Malan

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Ireland

Pre Match Media Conference

Q. How has the last couple days gone after the performance down in Hobart? What have you spoken about? What's been addressed?

HEINRICH MALAN: Yeah, I was just saying earlier, we're just really focused on the way we've played over the last four to six months, not necessarily just the last week. We've got a couple of performance indicators that revolves around the way we operate, not just around the outcome, and I guess for the next two weeks that's a key focus for us is really being clear around what that looks like and what's worked for us over a period of time to play some good cricket and hopefully if we can consistently do that, some of those end results will turn our way.

Q. Now that you would have done a lot of planning coming into this tournament and a lot of teams probably looked at a lot of the data around playing T20 cricket in Australia, but the surfaces have provided a different challenge given the time of year it is. Did you watch the India-Pakistan game the other night? This MCG pitch played differently to what it normally does in the BBL. Have you got any thoughts on how you're going to need to adjust on this wicket, particularly against an attack that features guys who can swing the ball and someone who's got 150Ks in the bag?

HEINRICH MALAN: Yeah, 100 per cent. You look at the game the other night, it was probably one of the best T20 games of all time. But from a conditions point of view, I think we always knew coming to Australia that the ball will obviously bounce a little bit more and the wicket will swing and it will swing around. Again, it's not necessarily focusing too much on that. We understand that, and we've made that part of our preparation.

But look, it'll be a challenge for us in terms of where we come from. The wicket down in Hobart wasn't necessarily conducive to that style of play, either, but look, that's the challenge of international cricket. You're going to move around, and it's how quickly we can adapt to that. We've done the work in the background to be aware of that, and now we've got to go out there and adapt, and hopefully we can do that nice and quick.

Q. Does it change the way you want to structure the innings? Paul has obviously wanted to be super aggressive up front, but it's looked like so far in the tournament sort of getting your way through the powerplay and almost leaving wickets in hand has been a better strategy as opposed to trying to attack up front given how much the ball has moved. Has that made any difference in your planning at all?

HEINRICH MALAN: No, not necessarily. I guess if you look at T20 cricket especially in Australia, the powerplay is important, but the powerplay is not the be all and end all; it's what happens in that middle block. I guess it's scoring runs but not getting out in the powerplay, which then allows you to move through that middle block. Look, I think we all know that, and that's something that we're well aware of, and it's something that we've made part of our preparation, our planning, our training, and hopefully the guys can go out there and build those partnerships and give us a nice platform to then kick on from.

Q. Heinrich, can I ask how George Dockrell is? Is he back with the team? Obviously we had an update a couple days ago.

HEINRICH MALAN: Yeah, look, he's been training on his own, and he's been following the protocols to make sure that he can still be ready to play and obviously has been playing, but just in an isolated environment.

But he's feeling as good as anything. Obviously he's just got a couple of symptoms.

Q. Must be a bit strange sort of having to keep your distance from one of your squad. How does that work in practice?

HEINRICH MALAN: Look, again, it's probably just a normal day in international sport. When something changes the whole time, you've got to adapt and you've got to get on with it. In a perfect world, it wouldn't happen, but look, it is what it is, and we've adapted around it, and we've made sure that we've put measures in place to adequately prepare.

Q. How would you assess your chances against England?

HEINRICH MALAN: Look, it's a nice challenge for us, and we're really excited. I think I saw a stat this morning, we haven't played them in white ball cricket for a long period of time, so it'll be a nice challenge.

We know that they've got a couple of skill sets that'll be challenging, but I also think way we've played over a period of time that we've shown that we've got a couple of guys that have put their names in lights, and that's the opportunity that we're looking forward to, and hopefully we can come out tomorrow night firing.

Q. You've spoken about how you've tried to -- not stop but contain maybe Jos Buttler and all the big hitters that England have?

HEINRICH MALAN: I'm pretty sure that everyone around the camp is trying to figure out what that formula looks like.

Look, I guess that's where the performance aspect comes in for us and trying to be clear on what are some of those indicators for us.

We've shown over periods of time, especially in that West Indies game, that we can execute certain plans, and we've done some real work in the background as a support staff to make sure that we get a clear understanding of what people's strengths are and where we can attack.

Hopefully our bowlers can go out there and be clear in their own preparation. They've all got their own strengths, and if they can play towards them and be clear around that, hopefully they execute well, then we can be on the good end of it.

Q. Obviously Mark Wood the other day, well into the 150s, consistently in the 150s. He's not guaranteed to play, but is that something you've sort of talked about?

HEINRICH MALAN: We haven't actually spoken about it too much. I think everyone is well aware that he bowls quite quickly. I think one of the things we have spoken about is maybe taking one to the keeper, especially here as the ball flies through wherever the keeper will be standing.

Look, I think we all know it's not only him in this tournament that bowls at a rapid pace. There's quite a few guys that can bowl nice and quickly, and we haven't necessarily faced that or we don't necessarily prepare for that on a day-to-day basis, but that's the challenge that's in front of us, and again, as an international side we need to adapt. We need to be ahead of the game in terms of what's coming towards us, and hopefully we can through our preparation and planning make sure we go out there and execute.

Q. Every time England and Ireland have played each other, there's been a sporting rivalry game across sports. When you take the field tomorrow, does all these things matter to you, or how do you approach it? Do you want to take fresh cut or what is it?

HEINRICH MALAN: Yeah, look, there's been a little bit of a chat around the group that there's a nice rivalry between the two nations, and there will be a lot of support for both camps tomorrow night, which when we played our warmup game over here against Namibia, I think one of the things we spoke about was making sure that we try and get back to the MCG when there will be a couple of people in. I know it's a challenge a lot of the boys are looking forward to.

Q. Has what happened in 2011 been discussed at all, in Bangalore?

HEINRICH MALAN: No, not really. To be honest, it's more being where your feet is at at this stage for us. There's obviously a lot of water that's gone under the bridge between now and then.

Again, it's making sure that we understand the situation, the conditions, the opposition. We use that as a competitive advantage, that we know that they know that we know that they know.

At the end of the day, it's making sure that we go out there and play a certain brand of cricket that we can go back and put our performance indicators on, and hopefully we can execute well on the day, and if we do that for periods of time, the results will be in our favour.

Q. It was in a different format, but most of this group have memory of beating England, I think it was a couple years ago in a One Day International. Is that a bit of an uplift, an uptick going into the match?

HEINRICH MALAN: I guess if you roll back to the start of the year, most of the squad played well against West Indies, too, and we managed to play some good cricket a couple of days ago. Look, those things always help, but at the end of the day you've still got to go out there and you've got to play. It's bat versus ball, and it's the start of a new game.

We'll approach it that way, and hopefully the preparation and the work we've done up until this point we'll be able to go out there and play some good constructive cricket, and if we do that again for periods of time, hopefully the result will go our way.

Q. You mentioned there the importance of the middle overs. You had a lot of success against the West Indies let's call it middle loading your bowling, keeping Mark and Josh back, only bowling them one over in the powerplay and bringing them on in the middle overs. Is that something you think you can get away with tomorrow, considering how destructive England normally are in the powerplay with the bat?

HEINRICH MALAN: Well, look, I guess when you look at batting lineups, and if people bat really deep, it's that understanding that you've got to try and find an opportunity to take wickets in the powerplay but even more so in that middle block because if you don't take wickets, as we've seen, death becomes not just the last four overs but could potentially become the last six to eight overs.

The matchup side of things always comes into it, and I think the way Andrew has been using our bowlers has been really good in terms of making sure we've got the understanding of the matchup, but also, two, the dimensions of the grounds and being really clear around our plans around that.

Q. Is that something you think is Australia-specific, the crucial middle overs, because it's something that's being spoken about by you guys more than it was during the summer back home in Ireland?

HEINRICH MALAN: I don't think it's necessarily just here, but I do think in these very good conditions, it's not just about the powerplay. I think in subcontinental conditions, powerplay, harder ball becomes more of a focus area, but I think if you go back over the Big Bash and the time that I spent in New Zealand, it's an understanding that the powerplay is important, but what happens between overs 12 and -- 7 to 12 and then 12 to 14 is really, really important.

It's just the understanding of what we want to try and focus on during that period and how that revolves back to the roles that some of our bowlers play.