Here is the full transcript of Australian fast bowler Nathan Ellis’ press conference after their February 11 match against Ireland.
(Reporter:)
What does it mean to lead Australia’s pace attack in the absence of guys like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc?
(Nathan Ellis:)
Yeah, I don’t see myself as the leader of the attack. It means a lot to me to be here in the Australian jersey at the World Cup. That’s probably the biggest thing. So we had a really good lead. We are all looking forward to tonight. So yeah, it’s good to get the first one out of the way and win the board.
(Reporter:)
Like I’m talking about the slower backhand serve, it’s very hard to execute. You just ran in the first ball today. You hit your target. And you also seem to have more variation due to slower delivery. So at what point do you choose which one to deliver? And is it based on the conditions?
(Nathan Ellis:)
Very. It’s probably a mixture of basic conditions and dough. You do a lot of video analysis on batters these days. And then I also let the earlier overs in the game dictate what I pass the second overs. If there’s still a beater in there that’s already faced me, I’ll let that dictate and move my steps forward. We obviously saw tonight that the slower balls were really effective. We saw it through our batting innings as well. So we went into our bowling innings with this feedback from our batsmen. And tonight it proved again that in these day games you might need a lot of spin bowling, some changes and
a bit of chaos.
(Reporter:)
Nathan, talk to us about the decision and confidence to throw the first ball and how you came up with that as your plan?
(Nathan Ellis:)
Yeah, something I’ve really tried to challenge myself a bit is to try and bowl the first ball. I mix it up, I throw on the first ball some games, some games I don’t, but I want to be able to throw pretty much anything, any ball I have, the first ball in a game. I use Big Bash a lot to do this. You get a lot of different conditions, a lot of different wickets, a lot of different shots. So yeah, I don’t want to feel any pressure or nervousness not to play a certain ball just because it’s the first ball.
(Reporter:)
When Mitch went down before the game, when did you hear about it and did it cause any disruption in camp during warm-ups or lead-up?
(Nathan Ellis:)
Yeah, he’s been in a bit of pain the last few days, so poor guy, you don’t envy a man in that position. We had a bit of an inkling, probably yesterday and today it kind of played out, so it’s never a great scenario for a team when you lose a captain, but also for a guy who goes to bed last night not playing and then he has to come on. But when it comes to team disruption, we have the easiest and easiest group in the world. Travis Head has stepped in as captain and his heart rate is unlikely to exceed 25 at the best of times. So yeah, luckily, of course, we all want Mitchie there and we love Mitchie leading us. But yeah, it hasn’t been talked about much and we’re just trying to hit the ground running.
(Reporter:)
Mitch’s question has already been answered. Will the Tim David update be available for the next game?
(Nathan Ellis:)
I hope so. Tim, he chews to play and he trains really well. Hits the ball If I’ve seen him hit the ball, he’s had six weeks at home, which doesn’t happen that often, to try to get in shape and strength and get in the gym. So yes, he flies, he runs, he plays in the field. And yes, like I said, he hits the ball a mile. So I hope to see him in the next game. If not, maybe the game after. I’m not sure.
(Reporter:)
The Australian team played very well against Ireland today. So what were you thinking about here, cricket pitches?
(Nathan Ellis:)
field? Yeah, the pitch was what we expected. It is the second use of that goal. It was a 3 o’clock start in the sun. So it looked like a good wicket, well compact. But we thought it would slow down gradually, so we batted first. But yeah, overall I think it’s a really good goal. Good conditions. Different conditions than we are used to. Yeah, good conditions, fast terrain. So the boys did well.
(Reporter:)
Yeah, so coming into the tournament, a lot of broadcasts, everyone was talking about how 250 and 300 plus scores could be one of the common factors in this tournament. But again, as we have often seen in ICC tournaments, scores usually go down. So what is the difference between playing bilateral and World Cup and why are these scores different?
(Nathan Ellis:)
Personally, I would just subject it to conditions. I think you get day games, so you don’t get that evening dew factor that speeds up the pitch, the outfield, and makes it difficult for the pitchers. Obviously you have traffic on the pitches so they are a bit more tired, potentially a bit slower. And yes, I expect good wickets in night games as well. Once you get to India as well, the wickets we are used to there, the ball flies around small plots. But yeah, I think you see it here. I think my first thought would be the conditions, the day’s play and the traffic at the wickets.
(Reporter:)
Nathan, before the World Cup team was announced there were many calls from outside that Steve Smith should be included in the team. Now he finally gets his chance. You can only talk about what such an experienced player brings to this team, and especially now that you are almost in the knockout stages.
(Nathan Ellis:)
As in Steve Smith? Oh, actually we haven’t played a game with him for Australia in a long time. It’s obviously a weapon. He is one of the best in the world. But yeah, man, we had 18 months and about 20 T20 games leading up to where we had the top order absolutely coming up with it. So yeah, I mean, there’s obviously a lot of buzz around Steve Smith’s scoring in the BBL. But our highest order is global. Obviously we miss Marsh today. And you throw up players like Josh Inglis So yeah, it’s tricky. It’s always going to be difficult when you have so much good talent and top class batsmen, but yeah, it’s hard to squeeze into that peak.