Ireland captain Philippe Le Roux on ICC U19 WORLD CUP

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00:00 Tell me about the excitement levels ahead of your first game.

00:04 Really just itching to get out there. We've been training indoors for so long now, so

00:10 any time we can get outside is massive and the first USA game we've been looking forward

00:15 to it for a long time basically since we knew the fixtures, so really eager to get out there.

00:21 And what are your thoughts on India?

00:24 Really excited to play India. I was privileged enough to participate in the last U19 World

00:30 Cup when we played against them and they were amazing and obviously the current U19 World

00:35 Champions haven't won the last one, so it will be very exciting to play against them

00:39 but also a huge opportunity to perform well.

00:42 For you personally, what does it mean to be captain of this team?

00:47 It's a massive privilege to be captain of Ireland. If you look at the previous captains

00:52 that have come through that are now playing international cricket for the senior team

00:58 and leading a group that is so tight and get along so well, it's massive to be the person

01:05 that is lucky enough to lead this team.

01:09 This World Cup, what can we expect from you as a player?

01:13 Well hopefully I can individually contribute with the bat and then my experience from the

01:21 last World Cup and a few others, hopefully we can put that to good use and it can go

01:26 a long way into contributing to some wins for the rest of the lads.

01:31 What would you say is one of the greatest lessons from the last World Cup that you've taken?

01:36 I think just absorbing the pressure, whether you're feeling it or applying it, it's going

01:42 to be a massive factor in any game that has a stake in it and there's no bigger stake

01:48 than the World Cup, so I think relishing that opportunity is huge and maybe I can be a bit

01:55 more relaxed this time knowing what I felt like last time.

01:59 In saying that, what is your leadership style?

02:03 I think because we're such a close group I don't have to be very authoritarian, everybody

02:09 knows their role and I'm just there to guide and give my advice when possible and when

02:15 needed but we've got a great understanding of each other so it's definitely not intense.

02:20 So what would you say is the main strength of this team?

02:23 I think we bat very deep in this team and then I think the experience that we have having

02:29 four players from the last World Cup in this squad will be huge for us but we've got a

02:36 lot of cricket under our belts in the summer as a squad, playing other international games

02:41 so really looking forward to this one.

02:44 What do you hope you can achieve this tournament?

02:47 Well our first aim is to get to the Super Sixes and then from there see how many wins

02:54 we can get as possible.

02:56 Obviously with the different format you can't really compare it to previous World Cups but

03:01 I think if we can turn over one of the big nations as an underdog that would be huge

03:07 and that's what we're aiming for.

03:09 Wish you all the best with that.

03:11 Just from a cricketing landscape perspective in Ireland, won't you give us a sense of

03:16 what is the cricketing landscape like?

03:18 I think it's come on huge recently.

03:21 I remember from when I was maybe 12 years old in my last year in primary school, training

03:28 in school there would be maybe 10 boys there and you couldn't even field the team but now

03:33 I was lucky enough to coach the last two years some of the primary schools and the numbers

03:38 are amazing so it's definitely coming on big time and that's from the success that the

03:42 senior team has been having recently and hopefully this group can inspire more people to participate

03:48 and keep it growing as it is but doing very well and turning over some big teams so it's good.

03:54 Let's envision that you do have the most epic World Cup.

03:57 What would it mean for everybody back home?

04:00 I think it would be huge.

04:02 I think everybody's been dreaming about it but I'm sure all the other teams are so we've

04:05 got to work really hard for it but I've never been more confident in a group or a team that

04:11 I've been a part of to pull off something so big and I think for family back home, for

04:17 clubs back home, I think everybody's been great with their support and that is what's

04:22 going to take us the extra mile.

04:24 extra mile.

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