- 2 years ago
Kraigg Brathwaite on West Indies test series Lords opener v England
09/07/2024
Lords, London, England
09/07/2024
Lords, London, England
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SportsTranscript
00:00Right, we've got the West Indies captain, Craig Rathwright here, ahead of his 90th test,
00:13ready to answer questions. We'll take questions from the room first, and then we will open
00:19it up to Zoom as well thereafter. So if you'd like to start, we'll go.
00:29Javier, as well as your 89 test matches, you've now had a period in charge of the test match
00:34team. Do you think this is the best group of players you've had at your disposal so far?
00:40It's quite hard to say best. It's a young group, it's a group that are willing to
00:50put in the work. I'm not saying that some of the teams before wasn't,
00:55but I would say it's a young group, especially the batsmen. They have a lot of time to learn,
01:02because obviously playing test cricket, it takes a while to really understand. You're
01:06always learning on the job. But yes, it's a very decent team for sure.
01:12Recently, between England and West Indies, you've been competitively serious, you've had a lot of
01:16success. It seems England are going through a process of rebuilding a bit. They've perhaps
01:21got some attention on the Ashes. England teams always have attention on the Ashes. If they were
01:26a bit distracted in this series, you could perhaps take advantage of that, I wonder?
01:32Maybe we won't be studying that part really. We focus on ourselves and what we want to do well,
01:38and that's our main focus, to be honest.
01:42Just finally for me, what would you say is your biggest asset
01:45as a team going into this test match?
01:48Our own performance, because we need everything. We need catches to be caught. We need 20 wickets
01:56to win a test match, and then we've got to put rounds on the board. I think our own
02:01consistency of performing throughout this series is what's important.
02:08Everyone knows how hard it is to win away from test cricket these days. You don't get the
02:12preparation time that previous teams used to get. I just wondered, coming into this series,
02:16how much heart do you take from that win in Australia last time out in terms of self-belief
02:21and what that means to the team?
02:25I think it was a big positive for us to get a win, because it shows that we could get the
02:32job done. Obviously, the key for us as a group is to be consistent and do it consistently.
02:40We could take a lot of stuff from that game, both as batsmen, because we have some guys doing well
02:44in that game with the bat, some important partnerships. Then with the ball, we were
02:47outstanding. Obviously, Shamar was the star, but pretty much all the bowlers put in a very,
02:52very good effort, and we caught well as well. It's history, it's gone. We've got to look forward to
03:01this first test and then the other test matches this series, but it at least gives us that cue
03:07that we could get the job done and we've just got to believe in ourselves.
03:11Thank you.
03:20This is Jason's 10th anniversary of Test Cricket. I know you're happy to have him back,
03:26but how much of an asset is having him in the dressing room, especially with Kimar
03:31being out for the series?
03:33Jason obviously has a lot of experience and it's always good to have him in the group.
03:39A lot of the younger guys look up to him and he's there to offer advice. It's great to have him,
03:46and I know he'll be looking forward to leading from the front with this young group as well.
03:52What has he been telling you, the captains here at Florida, he had a taste of it in 2017 when
03:59you all see him take command. What has he been telling you with the leadership and
04:04the slope?
04:07Well, we don't go to him in depth in terms of the slope, and obviously he's a kind of
04:13different team. We speak about the different borders that some of the guys may not know
04:18that he played against, and just letting that information when necessary, to be honest.
04:26Craig, have you got an 11 for us? Have you finalised your team?
04:30Yeah, we have 11. Mikel Lui will make his debut in this test match. Five batsmen, three will be
04:38Kirk McKenzie, four Alec Antonis, five Calvin Hodge, the all-rounder Jason Hall will be at six,
04:44Joshua De Silva, the keeper, at seven. Then we have one spinner, Guido Casciamorti,
04:48and then three fast bowlers, Jadon Seals, Azari Joseph and Shemar Joseph.
04:54Some of those younger batters maybe haven't played against England before,
04:57can you just tell us a bit about them and what we can expect?
05:02I think they're young and exciting. Kirk McKenzie got a few 50s in Australia, which was good,
05:08and also good. Calvin Hodge got a nice 80-odd as well, which was good in Australia. At least
05:14that gives Alec Antonis some confidence to show him that he can do it as well. The challenge for
05:20us obviously is to do it consistently, and I think the more games they play, they'll be better.
05:25They have a lot of talent, and we are fully 100% behind them.
05:31Good morning, Craig. With the Honourable Desmond, he is no longer being the
05:37league selector, and we're talking about selection. What will be the makeup of the
05:41selection committee on tour now?
05:46Well, I don't know if I could touch 100% on it, because it's nothing that's, I guess,
05:52confirmed fully. So yeah, it'd be probably a little tough for me to speak on that,
05:58since it's not official from West Indies cricket boarders yet.
06:05I mean, what do you make of this selection? You know you just can't get out,
06:08maybe this could be a problem.
06:10Right. Well, yeah, I understand, but it's probably a little tough for me,
06:14since it's not an official word from West Indies for me to speak on it.
06:19Craig, in terms of your batting approach, obviously, you yourself played a very important
06:24innings last time out to help win that series in the Caribbean. Clearly, with all the talk
06:30about Baseball England go hard with their batting, is your best approach to play the way you do,
06:36or is your team, I mean, we haven't seen much of your batting, is it a variety of approaches
06:42you can take, or is it basically hang in there and build as long as it takes to put a score on
06:49the board? I mean, every batter has a different style, and one thing we urge is for guys to
06:57have their plans and bat like their self. And obviously, over the years, you know my general
07:02style is taking my time, and that's me. And we urge all our batters to bat their game and their
07:10plan, and that's what we'll do. We focus on ourselves. But in terms, obviously, what we
07:17expect from West Indies, not quite sure because we haven't seen, but in terms of what you expect
07:20as captain, what's the fundamental thing you need from your young players, in particular,
07:26the ones who haven't got a lot of experience at the top there? I mean, showing fight is very
07:30important, very crucial for us as a group. Obviously, batting, you know, batting a whole
07:36day is always a positive. And, you know, big partnerships, you know, those little key points
07:41for us are very important. And, you know, once we can do that, it sets up, you know,
07:47test match in a positive way, you know, to look for test match wins.
07:55Craig, all the talk this week about Jimmy Anderson naturally being his last test,
07:59how does he compare for you as a fast bowler in terms of the challenges he presents with the
08:04new ball to others in this generation? Yeah, he's obviously a legend of the game. He's very
08:12consistent in hitting a line of length, and then he obviously could determine whether he goes in
08:17or out, and that's obviously a skill in itself. And, you know, I think facing him in England is
08:24a good challenge, and you've really got to be on it. And once you could, you know, come up from
08:31facing a guy like him on the positive side and getting runs and stuff, it really gives you a lot
08:35of confidence. So, you know, obviously we have our plans, and, you know, as I told the guys, just
08:40believe in yourself, believe in your plan, and enjoy it as well, because, you know, it's always
08:45a great series playing here in England, and, you know, we truly look forward to it. Some people
08:50have said that, you know, when they first face him, it's quite difficult to pick up whether it's
08:53going in or out. Is that something that you had as a young player, the sort of the cues to pick up?
08:59Yeah, I mean, you've got a couple of split seconds to obviously decide, so it's, you know, you really
09:05got to trust your eyes, you know. Obviously, it's not 90 miles an hour, so, you know, there's a bit
09:10more time to see it, but I'd say you trust your eyes and trust your defence, whether you go on
09:15the attack or defend the ball, whichever it is, you know, you fully, fully have to believe
09:22in yourself and stay as still as possible. That's very, very important.
09:31Captain, seven years ago, you were Jimmy Anderson's 500th test wicket on a day about as
09:38dark as this, if not darker. Do you remember much about it? Do you remember the ball at all?
09:43I remember the floodlights being on, so light must have been an issue.
09:47Yeah, I remember the ball. I don't think about it too much, but yeah, I do remember.
09:55Great. Louis becomes the first player on the test match. It took six years for that to happen.
10:06First of all, tell us a little bit about him. I guess he's the alter ego to you in terms of
10:14a champion, but seriously, was he a temptation, also the biggest brother?
10:21I mean, he's in the squad, so obviously he has a chance to play, so I can't say it in terms of
10:27two of them, but, you know, this for this, last for last season gone, obviously, he, you know,
10:33he did extremely well with the bat and, you know, he batted long as well. He batted some long
10:38periods. He showed a lot of fight. You know, he puts away the ball when it's a bad ball.
10:44But he's a nice guy, very joyful spirit, and I know he'll do extremely well, you know,
10:52playing international cricket, you know, for many years, but, you know, my advice to all the young
11:00boys in the group and, like, Mikel making his debut is don't just aspire to play for
11:06Vasini's first competition. Be the first to score 30 hundreds. You know, you got to think big,
11:11you know, don't think, don't think too small, and I think he'll do extremely well.
11:25Yeah, well, I wasn't, I wasn't in on it. Obviously, he and his brother, because they always
11:30have a lot of different handshakes. That's one thing. So, yeah, that was nice to see him, you
11:35know, doing it with the king. Well, I'm not too sure. I mean, his brother Jeremiah is,
11:42I know who's, who's more the handshake boss. I'm not too sure from the colours you see him.
11:47Okay, we'll take any questions on the Zoom. Any questions? Put your hand up.
11:58I don't think we have any. Okay. That's it. Thank you very much. Oh, no, I'm sorry. Hang
12:05on. Hang on. We've got one. We've got one. We've got one. Hang on. Okay. There we go.
12:13Mash, would you like to ask your question?
12:17Yeah, thank you, Dean. Great. Just, just a couple. How, in terms of you as an opener,
12:25how much pressure do you feel or put on yourself to have to set the tone for the rest of the team?
12:32Obviously, you're essentially the most experienced batter, you've got the most test match centuries,
12:38and so many people always look to you to, to almost see off the new ball, etc. Or is it
12:43just business as usual for you? Yeah, just, just business as usual, to be honest.
12:50I've been opening for a long while and it's pretty second nature. What I have to do is,
12:56I don't say it's added pressure. There's obviously, there's always nerves to,
13:00to playing a test match and playing any cricket match. But for me, it just
13:04aims to go there and be as still as possible. And I like to lead from the front.
13:11Yeah. And just further to that, in the tour game at Beckenham,
13:16I mean, you came out for a bit of a knock in the first innings, but in the second innings,
13:19you let Zachary and Mikhail open. You didn't come back out to bat. Is that just a sign that
13:26you're comfortable with your preparation and where your game is at, and that you didn't feel
13:30the need to have to go back out there?
13:34Well, I'm ready to go, but I had a bit of spasms that day. So that's, that's why I didn't,
13:40that's the reason why I didn't bat in the second innings. But it's saying that I'm,
13:44I'm ready to go as well.
13:49Okay. I think that's it. Thank you very much.
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