Mitch, any news from the team? Is Nathan Ellis available for tomorrow’s clash, for example?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
He is available but no team news yet.
(Reporter:)
And Tim David, will we see him at the start of the tournament or is he someone who could return to the group stage?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Yeah, he’s not available tomorrow, but we’ll definitely see him back in contention in the next few games.
(Reporter:)
What did you take away from Game 1? Lots of spin between Sri Lanka and Ireland, 25 from 40 overs. What did you take away from watching that match?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Yep, no surprise apparently. I didn’t think we were going to turn a lot, but we certainly know the conditions we’re going to face. And I think most teams are going to have, I guess, similar ideas about how they’re going to go about it. So we’re ready for it and we’re ready to go.
(Reporter:)
I’m guessing two special spinners are an option for how you line up. It’s not something Australia would traditionally do during this cycle, but I’m guessing the conditions here will suit if you decide to go that route.
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Yes, absolutely. I think as you said it’s not something that – in the conditions that we face traditionally happens, but we’ve played with two spinners a couple of times over probably the last 12 months and we’ve seen that Matt Kuhnemann definitely belongs at that level. So yes, if we do go this route it will certainly not be a surprise to us and something we have been used to over the last 12 months.
(Reporter:)
And just generally, last for me, but generally here in Sri Lanka, the scores are a bit lower than what you’ve seen in the T20 format. How does this affect your approach to your batting associations? Since the last World Cup, we have seen the team being really aggressive and dominating the 20 overs. Will that change given the lower scoring or do you think it’s a similar approach?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Look, I think we definitely want to be positive in the way we go about things. I think in these conditions it’s just about being really clear about how you’re going to go about it and playing what’s in front of you. The word adaptability is being thrown around in our team meetings so far and just adapting to whatever situation is put in front of us and getting the job done.
(Reporter:)
Just a quick word on the pacers, so quite an inexperienced pace attack. It’s the first time without a big three since 2016, I think, since the 2016 World Cup. So how is it on the surfaces where you probably need a bit of experience because they’re not going to have a lot of help.
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Yeah, look, guys like Paddy have played a lot for us over the last couple of years because of his hectic schedule, and guys like Benny Dwarshuis and Xavier Bartlett have played pretty much all of our games in the last 12 months. So we have a lot of confidence that they have been able to make a role for us and they have excelled in some games. So we are confident with the group that we have here. And that’s what we’ve been building over the last 12 months.
(Reporter:)
You’ve had quite a few injuries over the past few months. It was, I wouldn’t say chaotic, but it wasn’t an ideal preparation. Unusual for the Australian side as you generally plan pretty well ahead. So how did it adapt?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Yeah, I’ll probably go back to the last point that we’ve built a squad of about 18 to 20 people that have played in the last 12 months and we’ve got game time for all of them. They’ve all faced different situations in the matches and even though some of them haven’t played much for Australia, they’ve played a lot of cricket and we’ve got a lot of confidence that they’ll do the job for us.
(Reporter:)
And just you personally, what are your goals and how do you use your experience from playing here?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
My goal is the World Cup trophy. That’s all.
(Reporter:)
In the lead up to last year’s World Cup, you had a run rate where your batting unit scored at a rate of almost 10, which was among the highest. But this week it’s in Sri Lanka. You may need to adjust your game a bit. So how does the batting group have to deal with it? And because you have some power from top to bottom
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Yeah, look, we’ve got a lot of strength in our unit, but we’ve also got a lot of skill and a lot of experience from one to seven. So I think it’s just playing what’s in front of us, adapting to the conditions, communicating really well, and whatever comes our way, just jump at the opportunity and have a blast.
(Reporter:)
It’s also the World Cup where Australia are pinning their hopes, many of their spinners compared to their fast bowlers want to change due to lack of pace experience?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
I think we are not alone there. I think most teams will lean on their spinners, but we’ve seen over time that pace bowlers still play a big role in the way we shape up. I’m looking forward to that.
(Reporter:)
Yeah, so a lot of the affiliate teams have played really well so far this tournament, really close games. Ireland also had a very good close game against Sri Lanka. So how do you see these underdogs appearing in this tournament? And you see – since you’re playing last in the tournament, have you seen a pattern in this tournament and do you think you’d probably have to change some tactics because of that?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Yeah, there were some great games before the World Cup started and that’s what you want. It’s been amazing to watch so far. We approach every team the same way, we prepare the same way, we do our homework and then it’s about going out there and executing on the day. So no matter who we play, we’re going to have that mentality.
(Reporter:)
Mitch, how did you find starting the tournament last out of 20 teams, did you find it helpful to see, watch a few games in the lead before the first one?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
I mean probably some of the teams we didn’t play against a lot, but we had a great time – we focused a bit on our own preparation, it was nice to have a longer lead. Some of the guys are not in Pakistan and they get the group together for a week. Well, now it’s here, the eve of the World Cup is over and we’re looking forward to it.
(Reporter:)
One more for me. Obviously the Pakistan tour was not ideal in the end. Coming into a tournament right before the World Cup when you’re down 3-0, how do you put it out of your head and move forward as a group?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Look, yeah, it was a great lesson from that tour. We had some young guys who were exposed to those conditions probably for the first time in their careers and as we always say, we take the lessons and move on and of course we welcome some experienced guys back into our group for this part for this tournament, so yeah, we’ve definitely parked it and we’re moving on and we’re looking forward to the World Cup.
(Reporter:)
And in terms of lessons, if you could pinpoint one or two, what would you say: Okay, this is an area where we need to improve?
(Mitchell Marsh:)
Oh look, I mean it all. We were outplayed by Pakistan. And yes, we left it at that and are ready to move on.