Brendon McCullum
The BLACKCAPS wicketkeeper-batsman talks about the victory over the the Irish, the improvements the team has made, man of the moment Aaron Redmond and the possibility of playing two spinners.
On this being the best game for BLACKCAPS so far…
“Yes I think so. All round I’d say the way we played with the bat was fantastic and addressed what we talked about post the South Africa game, and I think we ticked the boxes with the ball and on the field as well.”
On Redmond’s performance…
“He certainly played well today, Aarons been around the Test scene with us for a little while and for him to come out and play the way he did today in a different circumstance to the league career he has been playing was great. I thought he took the game away from them inside about three overs. It was a pretty nervy game for us and he certainly gave the rest of the side a lot of momentum towards the back end of the batting as well.”
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On choosing Aaron- was it location or ability?
“A bit of both. Obviously it’s a long way to fly someone over form New Zealand in the winter when they haven’t had much cricket under their belts. Smart move from Aaron to come here and play league cricket and he has performed incredibly well in our domestic Twenty20 last year in particular. I think he got 100 off about 50 balls so he was certainly on the scene but I thought it helped with him playing over here at the same time.”
On being surprised by Aarons aggressive batting…
“A little bit because every time we’ve batted together previously (we’ve batted for the same province back home) and every time he’s got about 1 or 2! So today he certainly took all the initiative and if anything I struggled to get him back on strike.”
On a power-hitting strategy…
“We’ve worked pretty hard leading up to this tournament to get the guys who are in our side who are capable hit the ropes - that’s how we want to play. We didn’t play it right against South Africa the other night, we played too conservatively for the team that we want to be and fortunately we were able to turn it around within 48 hours and come out and play with the aggression we want to play with for the remainder of the tournament.”
On the teams injuries…
“Hopefully, fingers crossed they’ll be right for the next one or the game after that but again its something we’re still unsure of it’s a day by day thing hoping they’ll continue to improve. I spoke to Dan before this game and as long as the 11 who walk out on the park have a clear focus in terms of performing then hopefully the other guys will take care of their injuries and be ready to come back into the side when they are fit.”
On having 2 spin bowlers…
“I think particularly on the wickets that were playing on we’ve seen how vital spin has been and is likely to be in this tournament and I think it’s a huge luxury if we can play both spinners. To have one that takes the ball away from the right hander and one that takes it away from the left hander is fantastic and I think Nathan’s batting and also his fielding is a huge part of the balance of our team. I think when Dan is back Nathan will be pushing hard for a position in the 11.”
