00:00You have not become Australia for the last eight years. How do you rate your
00:07system tomorrow's game?
00:08Thanks for that stat. I think it's a great opportunity. Those stats are there and we're
00:13aware of them, but at World Cups, it doesn't matter. I think records and previous results
00:18go out the window for us. It's a really exciting opportunity to take on the reigning one-day
00:22champions first up, so we love any opportunity that we get to play against Australia. It's
00:28sort of like our big sister. We're really excited about that, and come game day, both
00:33teams start on zero. Again, really excited for the opportunity.
00:38How do the teams come over to retire?
00:42I haven't retired.
00:44I haven't retired.
00:46I read from there.
00:48Are you saying I need to retire? Is that what you're saying? That's okay.
00:52It's okay.
00:54I'm not sure if you've seen the results from the last four warm-up games that we've been
01:21playing, but the middle order has been going considerably well. Matty Green, Ezzie Gaze,
01:24both scoring hundreds. I know you're probably talking about official one-day matches, but
01:28for us, we've built really nicely. We haven't played a lot of cricket, especially one-day
01:32format, over the last six to nine months, but it's certainly something that we're aware
01:36of. We know that in this competition, especially on some of the wickets that we're going to
01:41face over here in India, that run scoring is going to be incredibly important, and it's up
01:45to everyone. We can't just rely on the top four. We need the middle order. There's going
01:49to be crucial runs scored by the lower order as well at some stage during this tournament.
01:53So, I think if you look to the India-Australia series just before this, you know, 400 nearly
01:59wasn't enough. So, yeah, I think it's really exciting. As batters, we certainly know that
02:04we want to take ownership and responsibility of being the ones that do the bulk of the work,
02:08and we're really excited to be able to play on wickets like this, which I think are really
02:12conducive for scoring runs.
02:15Hi, Sophie. Vishal from Crickinfo. I'll remind you of something more positive. It's been
02:21less than 12 months since you won the T20 World Cup, although the lead-up into that tournament
02:25was not ideal. You had lost 10 matches on the bounce. But the way you beat India in the
02:31opening match really set the tone for the tournament. And this time also, like you said, you haven't
02:36played a lot of ODIs in the last six months, haven't beaten Australia in a while. Somebody
02:40reminded you. Do you think beating Australia in the first match could again set the tone
02:45for the rest of the league?
02:47Yeah, thank you for providing a positive memory. But, yeah, look, I think probably the
02:53difference between the World Cup last year and this year is the format, and that you have
02:57to play everyone in this format. So, I don't think we can necessarily focus on one game.
03:02I think for us, every match is going to be incredibly important. Absolutely, we want to start
03:07this tournament with a real hiss and a roar and make sure that we come out really strong
03:11and aggressive. And the fact that it's Australia that we play first, I think for us, what we keep
03:16going back to is making sure that we play our style of cricket. It doesn't matter who we're
03:19playing against. So, absolutely, everyone wants to win their first game. But there's still
03:24a lot of cricket. There's over a month of cricket to be played. So, for us, our focus is on making sure that we
03:29can execute our skills for long periods of time. Absolutely. We want to beat these Aussies first
03:34up and get some points on the board. But it's probably more important for us on how we play that game.
03:39And you saw the ground last night. You came here in the afternoon as well. How do the conditions look?
03:44Because nobody has played here before, out of all the teams.
03:47Yeah, I guess that's the interesting part of this World Cup is there hasn't been much women's cricket
03:52played at many of these venues. And for us here, it's pretty exciting that we get to be part of
03:56history as the first women's ODI game to be played here in indoor. So, it's going to be a lot of
04:02learning on the go here. I think, obviously, we had a training here last night. I thought the wickets
04:07were incredibly flat. Surprise. The outfield looks brilliant. And so, for us, it will be really important that we
04:15assess how conditions can change over time, obviously, with a three o'clock start. If the sun's out,
04:20obviously, when the lights kick in, whether the dew comes on board. They're all factors that we need to be
04:24aware of. But again, I go back to the fact that we want to focus on our role and our skills. I think
04:30sometimes when you can focus on when is the dew going to come or is there a bit of rain around, it can draw
04:35your energy away from what you're there to do, which is play cricket. So, yeah, absolutely, we're going
04:39to have to have, I guess, open mind, open eyes to make sure that we're, you know, learning as we're
04:44learning as we go. But again, I think that's one of the really exciting things about playing
04:49in India, as these conditions are pretty different to what we experience at home. But again,
04:54that just adds to the challenge of coming over here and hopefully having some success.
04:58Is everyone fit and available for selection?
05:01Yep. No, they are. We've got one player that we're just managing at the moment. I'd rather
05:11not say who that is, but just one player that we're managing at the moment. But everyone
05:14else is going great. I saw one player with knee or strap. Is it cool?
05:19I think we've got a few players with knees strapped. But we've got a few older people in the team. So,
05:24you know, there's usually a bit of strapping going around. But look, everyone's been able to train
05:27really well. Obviously, we were over in Dubai for a period of time as well. So, on the whole, I think
05:33we're really shaping up well.
05:36Thanks.
05:37Talking about the squad, the competition.
05:39Do you see Lola and her strength that you can only get to do?
05:42Potentially. Yeah, look, she's absolutely a chance. I think we picked her for a reason,
05:48obviously having the option of a left arm off spinner. But also her batting as well. And
05:53the thing that I've probably been really impressed with is her fielding as well. I think she's an
05:57outstanding athlete in the field. So, I think she'll certainly come into consideration for the
06:01playing XI. We haven't yet decided on our final XI. We were sort of waiting to get through this
06:04training and, I guess, have final discussions around it. But she's certainly an option, just
06:09like everyone in the team, is an option to be available for that XI tomorrow.
06:15You tell me. What do you think? I think everyone knows that spin is going to be huge over here.
06:24I think, especially as the tournament goes on, I think it's going to play a bigger part
06:28with, I guess, wearing conditions and the pitchers getting a bit more use on them.
06:33Obviously, in our squad, we're really fortunate that we've got a number of different options
06:36with the spin. I think that's, again, a big part of why we selected the squad that we did,
06:41because we want to have options throughout the tournament. So, absolutely, I think spin will
06:46definitely play a part. But equally, I think it's how players play spin as well. I think that's
06:51something that has been a real focus for us in this group, especially the last couple of months,
06:55is how we play in these conditions, how we combat, I guess, turning wickets.
07:01What do you think is the aspect of the governance of Australia?
07:06Oh, look. I think everyone knows how strong Australia is, the depth that they've got.
07:12And I guess that's what makes it really exciting, is that you can't count any of them out,
07:15that they can all contribute and perform on the day. For us, again, it just goes back to
07:20focusing on ourselves. I think if you're spending too much time looking through all the Aussies,
07:24you know, it can get in your head a little bit, because they are. They're full of superstars,
07:27they've got so much experience, you know, and they're pretty handy cricketers as well.
07:31So, for us, it's just a case of we know the plans that we want to execute against the team.
07:36And it doesn't matter whether it's Australia or India or Pakistan or Sri Lanka.
07:41If we execute the plans that we've got in place that we believe are going to be right,
07:45I think we can beat any team in this competition.
07:52Thanks, guys. Shukri. Did I get that right? Shukri? Shukri. Sorry, guys. I tried.
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