00:00Hello.
00:00Excellent.
00:01We'll start with Harry Brookings, the captain.
00:03We're going to go to David Chalmers first up, and then we'll open up to everyone else.
00:08Hi, Harry.
00:09A T20 World Cup semi-final against India in India.
00:12Is this as good as it gets, and is everyone excited?
00:15I suppose, what's the moon in the camp like?
00:17Yeah, it's up there for sure.
00:18It's a dream come true for most of us to play in a World Cup semi-final against the
00:23home nation on a very iconic ground, so we're all really looking forward to it.
00:27Marty Markle was in here early.
00:29He described the likelihood of it being a shootout tomorrow.
00:33What's your prediction for the game?
00:36Prediction?
00:37No.
00:40We're obviously going into the game very confident.
00:42We're playing some good cricket.
00:44We haven't quite played that perfect performance, and I feel like it's just around the corner.
00:47Hopefully, it's tomorrow night, and we go out there and we just play with freedom, play
00:53brave, and look to take it to them as much as we can.
00:57The manner of your victories.
00:59At times, the teams you've been playing have looked favourites to win, but you've obviously
01:05won the decisive moments in these contests.
01:09Does that lend an air of, maybe not invincibility, but feel like you're close to unbeatable?
01:16No, definitely not unbeatable, but I think it gives us a lot of confidence going into tomorrow
01:20as well.
01:21We've won them tight games, which in World Cups proved to be very important as well, and
01:28we've got a lot of confidence going into the deeper parts of the game.
01:31We've won games, like you said, which we probably shouldn't have won, and it just feels like
01:37we've never really been out of any games so far, which holds you in good stead in these
01:42world competitions.
01:43We've got Sidney at the front, then Simon.
01:47Sorry.
01:48Oh, this gentleman here.
01:48Sorry.
01:49Go ahead, and then Simon.
01:50Go ahead.
01:51Hi Harry.
01:52You know, Jaxi had announced in this very room that India will be the team to beat for
01:56England.
01:56Of course, the general consensus among the teams has been that India will be the strongest
02:00competitor bar none.
02:02But then again, I just wanted to highlight that ever since you assumed captaincy, the only team
02:06who has a higher win percentage than India in T20i cricket is England.
02:11Do you go into this competition, do you go into this match with the knowledge, with that
02:16knowledge sort of adding confidence to your stride that, you know, you are the best performing
02:21T20i team in the last sort of few months?
02:24I didn't even know that to be honest.
02:26That's news to me.
02:27Yeah, we've obviously played some good cricket over the last year or so, and hopefully we
02:32can play some more good cricket tomorrow.
02:34I do believe that India were the favourites from the start of the competitions as they
02:38should be on their home soil, home crowds and knowing the venue is better than anyone
02:44else.
02:44But T20 is such a fickle game and anything can happen.
02:48Simon, go ahead.
02:50You say England haven't played the perfect game.
02:53Do you need the perfect game to beat India in Mumbai or are they perhaps a little, I mean,
03:00overhyped maybe?
03:01No, I don't believe that we need the perfect game to win the competition to be honest.
03:06Them games that we have won have been nowhere near perfect and we still managed to get the
03:10wins convincingly in some of them and then tighten the other games. But it's just the unity that we've had
03:16to be able to get across the line, the belief that everybody's shown throughout the game.
03:20And the calmness that we've had when the bowlers have been stood at the top of the mark or, for
03:25example, the way that Jackson Rayham played it the other night, they were extremely calm and to get us over
03:29the line needing 40 off the last three overs was awesome.
03:33Just a slightly random question about the make-up of the team. When you came in as captain, your first
03:38game you brought in, Tom Banton back. You brought in Will Jackson at seven for the first time and Liam
03:45Dawson back after a few years.
03:47Was that a vision that you had for the team? Did you fight for those people to go where they've
03:53gone? How did those changes happen?
03:56Yeah, obviously when I took over, this was a year or a year away and it felt like it probably
04:03needed a little bit of planning.
04:04And that was slightly part of the planning really to try and get some game time in them guys and
04:10then slowly build some confidence up knowing that they were going to be in the side most of the time.
04:17And they've taken them roles on beautifully. Jacksy, for example, he's had four minor matches this World Cup. He's been
04:22the standout player in the competition, arguably. Dawson's played a massive role in plenty of games as well.
04:28Bantz has won us a few games off his own bat and, yeah, it's just having that confidence knowing that
04:35you are going to be around for a little while and thankfully it's got us this far so far in
04:40the competition.
04:40How personally rewarding is it to make kind of big calls like that, put players in positions they've never played
04:45before and here you are in a World Cup semi-final and you've been rewarded for that?
04:50Yeah, and I'm close to all three of them as well so I knew when I'm stepping onto that field
04:55that they're going to have my back.
04:56They're going to agree or, not agree, but have my back with whatever decision I make when I'm on the
05:02pitch and then they'll fight my corner at every given occasion.
05:06How important is it to have friends in the team?
05:11First of all, they have to be good enough cricketers to get in the team, but I do think it
05:14makes a big difference when you know that someone's going to have your corner and fight for you until the
05:20last ball and them three and, well, the whole 11 have done that beautifully since I've taken over.
05:28Harry, you have been praised for your captaincy, the way you have led this England side in this T20 World
05:32Cup, but for a player like Josh Butler, who is experienced, who has been a former captain, as a young
05:38leader, how do you deal with him?
05:41What are the conversations when he's not getting runs and is it the time that Butler, such a big player,
05:47can light up this semi-final with his batting?
05:50Yeah, you don't have to talk to him too much. I think leaving him alone is probably the best thing
05:56to do. He's been a powerhouse of a cricketer for many years, as we've all seen.
06:03I've been asked this question thousands of times now and I just think there should be no reason to question
06:09why he's in the team.
06:12Hi, Harry. You mentioned about the tight situations in your previous matches, but it is to be noted that England
06:18have managed to bounce back from the tough situations, be it against Nepal or Pakistan.
06:23How vital is that for teams' confidence, knowing that your team can bounce back from any given situation, especially going
06:29into a crucial match like the semi-final?
06:31Yeah, massive confidence. Like I said before, we don't feel like we're ever out of a game so far and
06:38all it takes is one of the top seven to get a decent score or one of our five or
06:44six bowlers to have an amazing day out there and all of a sudden you're walking away with a victory
06:49and that's what we've done so well so far.
06:52How everybody's kind of chipped in that game against New Zealand, everybody had a part to play whether that's back
06:57ball or in the field.
06:58So it's definitely so far been mainly team performances, but I feel like there's a big individual performance to come
07:06soon.
07:07Cheers.
07:08Back in the middle, go ahead.
07:10Harry, momentum. Can I just talk about what the significance of momentum is? India's been in two knockout games already
07:16coming into the semi-final. Is that a factor at all going into the semi-final?
07:24I don't know. That's for them to answer. Nothing to do with me.
07:31Just on the significance of momentum in this format?
07:39We've just got to go out there and play our game. Like I said, that's for them to answer. That's
07:45their question.
07:47Harry, you've made a lot of tactical courts that's gone your way in this tournament, even in crunch situations. Could
07:56you talk about the tactical challenges you will have as a captain against a team like India with all the
08:01variables that come into play playing at this venue?
08:04Yeah, we obviously get a lot of stats. We've got a lot of videos. We can see where the batters
08:07are trying to hit the ball. We know the wagon wheels and whatnot. We know the match-ups. It's just
08:15about trying to fiddle the bowlers to make sure that it's uncomfortable for their batters for as long as possible.
08:22They're obviously a very good side and they can adapt to different bowlers. My job is to try and make
08:27it as uncomfortable for them as possible.
08:32Harry, the last time you were here in India for the T20 series, perhaps I think Varun Chakraborty got you
08:38out a few times. Have you managed to sort of work him out, practice against his style of bowling in
08:44the nets?
08:45And does the 100 against Pakistan give you that confidence that you can tackle spinners better now? And the performance
08:53in Sri Lanka?
08:54I feel like England always get a bad rap about playing against spin. We've gone to Sri Lanka and we've
09:00won six games in a row against the subcontinent side who are very good in their own backyard.
09:07We've got a lot of confidence playing on turning pitches. Chakraborty is one of the best bowlers in the world
09:11and I'll try my best to face him and score as many runs as I can against him.
09:17What do you make out of the pitch here? Do you think that it will be this green tomorrow?
09:22This green?
09:23This pitch. What do you make out of the wicket?
09:26I don't know. You're asking the wrong man. I don't know anything about wickets. I'll have a chat with Baz
09:31tonight and tomorrow before the game.
09:33But yeah, we'll have a look at the stats and see what to try and do first if we win
09:39the toss.
09:40Last one at the front and then the dub. Thank you.
09:43Pass the mic across. Thank you.
09:47Hi Harry. Tomorrow's match will be played on the surface, on the central surface where you lost the game against
09:52West Indies and Italy bet Nepal.
09:55It was a pitch where the spinners had some assistance. 14 wickets were picked up by the spinners in those
09:59two games.
10:00So is that something which is playing at the back of your mind, you know, with India having quality spinners
10:04like Varun Chakravarti as well as Akshar Patel?
10:07And like, how are you planning to deal with the challenge?
10:10We've got some very good spinners as well. Our spinners have bowled extremely well throughout this competition and they've got
10:17to try and tackle that challenge as well.
10:20India have produced and always have produced very good spinners and we know that and we accepted that before coming
10:26into this competition that we're going to face challenges throughout, especially on pitches that can assist spin bowling.
10:32But like I said before, we played six T20s, three ODIs against Sri Lanka and in this world competition in
10:39Sri Lanka and we only lost one game.
10:42So I think we're going in with a lot of confidence and like I said before, I feel like England
10:47players get a bad rap against spin.
10:49Okay, we're done. Thank you.
10:50Thank you. Good luck.
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