Mitch Marsh (Australia) Pre-Match Press Conference transcript | Aus v SL | T20 World Cup
Q. Mitch, it was a game of two halves on the weekend. What is it that the team needs to do to make sure you get the result tomorrow night?
MITCHELL MARSH: Bounce back. It was, obviously, a disappointing start. A massive build-up for us as a team, and I think it just goes to show in this World Cup and in test cricket in general, if you are slightly off, they jump us at the start and we’re on a back foot from there on in.
Hopefully we can bounce back against Sri Lanka. They’re a good side. We know these conditions very well. The stadium should suit us more than them, so hopefully we can bounce back and get the World Cup underway.
Q. Do you think there will be personnel changes, or will you stick with the same 11, do you think, and just really try and bounce back with the same group of guys?
MITCHELL MARSH: Yeah, I think to my knowledge we’ll be playing the same 11 hopefully and stay the course.
Q. Mitch, the other night I think might have been a bit tongue-in-cheek, but you said it’s a perfect situation with the team, backs against the wall. Do you think that approach is something the team might have to adopt?
MITCHELL MARSH: Yeah, we don’t really have a choice now. I don’t actually remember saying that. I think Zamps is throwing me under the bus there. I’ll take that one for Zamps.
Look, the nature of the tournament, you lose one game, your back is up against the wall. We know what’s in front of us now.
I think what’s really important for us, and we’ve spoken about it, is not looking too far ahead. We have Sri Lanka tomorrow night. That’s all that matters for us.
Hopefully we play well and get past that, and then we move on to England.
Q. Given the scale of the defeat, do you think the confidence has been rattled at all within the group?
MITCHELL MARSH: Definitely not. I think if you look down the personnel of our group confidence is not something that all the boys are shy of. So I think it’s just really important to stick together.
We know that our best is up there with the best, so making sure we bring that tomorrow night, bring plenty of energy, and hopefully put on a good show for the Perth crowd.
Q. Mitch, you got a good look at Hasaranga and Theekshana earlier this year. What are the key things against them, and how different will it be playing them here compared to in Colombo and Kandy, I think it was?
MITCHELL MARSH: I know for a fact that it won’t be spinning as much as it was over there, so that’s a plus in itself.
I think in general our team and the way we play, we play spin very well. Certainly in Australian conditions. I’m looking forward to that challenge, but we know that they’re two world class bowlers. And Sri Lanka are a very dangerous side, so we’ll have to get our matchups right and make sure that we’re on.
Q. What about has Hasaranga in particular? You normally come here, and you are talking about bounce and the things like that. He is kind of the opposite with how low he kind of bowls. How difficult or otherwise will that be?
MITCHELL MARSH: He is, obviously, a very good bowler and someone that we’ll have to counteract.
Hopefully spin doesn’t play a huge factor at Perth Stadium, and we can look to really attack them. They are their two key bowlers. If we can get on top of them, then I think we’ll be ahead of the game.
Q. Mitch, you had a bit of an interruption sort of coming in. Do you still feel on the peak of your game, or do you still think that you’re on the rise towards the peak of your game?
MITCHELL MARSH: Hopefully I just build the whole way through the tournament, but yes, certainly a couple of my innings to begin with against England I felt really good.
I’m feeling great. I’m back bowling this game, available to bowl. So I love sort of preparing as an all-arounder and making sure I’m in the game the whole time, but I’m feeling great, and hopefully I can contribute a few big scores at the top and maybe chip in with a few wickets.
Q. Given Perth’s Stadium is new and given the COVID restrictions we’ve had the last couple of years, there hasn’t been a lot played here. Is it a genuine home ground advantage for Australia and particularly for the West Australians like yourself, do you think?
MITCHELL MARSH: I think it has. If you look back at the Scorchers, the first couple of years, we couldn’t win a game here, so we thought we were cursed.
The last couple of years certainly before COVID we turned that around. It’s a great place to play cricket. It’s similar to the Gabba. I love the dimensions of the ground, and we play very well here. I’m hopeful that it’s a home ground advantage, and we can get a World Cup.
Q. Do you think the fast bowlers have a chance stitching up the Sri Lanka tee given the pace and bounce we traditionally see in Perth?
MITCHELL MARSH: Yeah, I’m hopeful. We’ll see if they have an agressive approach. We know the big three bowlers, when they get going, they’re very hard to stop. Certainly after the other night, we’ll see a big response from them.
Q. Mitch, Ricky Ponting threw his support behind Cameron Green yesterday saying he would be a good acquisition and could really blow the World Cup open for Australia. Given local boy, knows the grounds, conditions, would you like to see Cam come in and play a role?
MITCHELL MARSH: Yes and no. Yes, because he is an unbelievable talent. No, because it probably means he takes my spot. We’ve had words about that. I told him to calm down a bit and give me another few weeks and then it’s all his.
But, look, I think any time you have someone like him on the sidelines, it’s good, it’s great. It creates pressure within the group.
But we know that throughout this tournament things may happen, injuries with so much travel, games back-to-back, so he will be ready for his opportunity if it comes, but for now I think we have the right 11.
Q. In terms of just the form, obviously, the laid-up series don’t count for anything, but winless through that defense England and now, obviously, the disappointment on Saturday. How close do you feel as though the team is to performing, and do you look into that and think, well, why isn’t it clicking at the moment?
MITCHELL MARSH: That’s a good question. I think that we’ve got a lot of confidence in our group that once we get on a roll, we’re going to be very hard to stop.
We had so much cricket in the lead-up to the game. We had guys in and out, in and out. It was all about building to the World Cup.
Obviously, we didn’t start well the other night, but we’ve got great self-belief. As I said before, we know our best is the best in the world, so hopefully we can turn it around against Sri Lanka and really show them.
Q. What do you make of history? There’s an element that it’s on your side because you lost your first game last year and went on to win it, but no host nation has ever won the T20 World Cup. Which way do you go to?
MITCHELL MARSH: Well, hopefully it’s something that you always want to talk about, you want to think about. But, ultimately, we need to get past Sri Lanka first before we start thinking about any of those sort of records or stats.
We’ve spoken about it. We know what’s in front of us. Obviously, you want to win any World Cup, let alone a home World Cup, but ultimately, we need to get past Sri Lanka tomorrow.
Q. You spoke about Cam Green on the sideline, but what’s it like having Steve Smith on the sideline? Is he extra annoying not playing, or is he less so?
MITCHELL MARSH: It’s certainly nice not having to run gloves out to him every five minutes, but he has been fantastic.
For someone who has literally done everything in the game, has a wealth of experience, and probably in any other side in the world would be a walk-up start. He has been terrific around the group providing lots of energy on the bench. You would expect nothing less from someone like Steve.
Q. I hate to ask it, but Faf du Plessis’ excerpt of his book came out yesterday, and would that be a little bit of a distraction, or how do you stay focused with some of the stuff that came out from that excerpt?
MITCHELL MARSH: Not a big reader, so I’m not sure what’s coming out there, but…
Q. It was a bit more around “Sandpaper Gate” and identifying David Warner and Mitchell Starc in his book and how closely the South Africans were watching them back then. How much of a distraction is it with those things coming up around a World Cup?
MITCHELL MARSH: Well, yeah, you as you probably just saw, nothing because I haven’t seen anything or read anything.
So we’ve got a World Cup to focus on as a group. We’re solely focused on that. We’re a really close group and tight-knit group. I’m just looking forward to the next couple of weeks.
Q. Mitch, you’re own personal form, do you feel like this is a perfect opportunity for yourself to kick-start your tournament after an interrupted sort of laid-up? You have probably played more cricket on this ground more than anyone else tomorrow night?
MITCHELL MARSH: Absolutely. I just love playing here, love playing in front of my family, friends, and West Australian crowds. So I love batting on this wicket. I think it’s the best wicket in the world.
Bounce, carry, ball flies off the bat. There are big boundaries, but I don’t worry about that. I love batting here, and hopefully I can contribute to a win.
Q. And bowling-wise, do you know what the plans are? Do you know whether you’ll bowl in the power play or death or anything like that, or are you sort of pretty flexible at this stage?
MITCHELL MARSH: I’ve offered the bowl the first over, but I keep getting shut down. Yeah, I’ll just be available to bowl.
We know that we try and get 1-over out of myself or even Maxy at times in the power play, and then it’s just about being flexible throughout the middle depending on how the game goes.
I think with me bowling it gives us that added flexibility of myself, Maxy, or Stoinis to get 4-overs out, and we can bowl anywhere, so it gives us great flexibility.
Q. Did you watch the game last night? What did you make of it, and do you think give that you guys had an off day on the first day, that match kind of lit up the tournament?
MITCHELL MARSH: I actually just think we should stop the World Cup there. If it gets any better than that, we’re in for an amazing three weeks.
India-Pakistan is always an incredible game to watch. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be in that crowd and to be a fan and to be a part of it. Yeah, amazing.
Virat Kohli has been through an indifferent 12 months when you think about his career, and for him to do that, put his mark on the World Cup, it was an incredible innings to watch and an incredible game. Hopefully there’s a few more of those.
Q. Just wondering if a guy like Virat has a space or a spot on the team and why can’t Steve Smith have a place in that squad? Similar player. Kane also plays for New Zealand.
MITCHELL MARSH: I think if you look at our team, we have a pretty incredible batting line-up for a T20 side. With Tim David coming to the side, we’ve gone sort of hitter-heavy towards the back end of the game, which I think will be really important if we can get off to a good start on the Australian ground.
As I said before, we’re early on in the tournament. Things may change, but for now I think we have a really set 11 and one that I truly believe in.
Q. Just following on from your ankle injury, I guess we expected you back bowling a bit earlier. Can you talk us through that, and was there a bit of a delay there for any reason?
MITCHELL MARSH: No, no delay. Probably more so just with the nature of coming back in and playing, and we had basically played, travel, play, travel. It was kind of hard to get a bit of training in whilst you’re trying to recover and get out for the next game.
Probably two weeks ago Game 2 was the game that I wanted to be back for winter play-in, and the ankle is feeling pretty good now, so I’m ready to go.
Q. Following on about the question about the Faf comments. No doubt that will get back to Warner. What can you tell us about his ability to just keep those distractions out? What does he do to make sure it doesn’t affect him in that manner?
MITCHELL MARSH: I can’t really say what he does, but what he does is amazing. He is an incredible person to have around our group. He is a great leader.
He has just got so much energy. He is our unofficial team manager, so that probably distracts him more than anything. Books all our golf. Any team functions, he is there.
He has had an amazing career, and he has clearly been able to block out a lot of distractions throughout that, and that’s what separates the best players in the world from the rest is they’re solely focused on their job.
For him it’s been scoring runs and providing energy for our group, and he has been able to do it for 15 years. It’s incredible.
Q. What do you think he can do now with not only Australia under pressure, but that added distraction chucked in for good measure? What do you expect from him?
MITCHELL MARSH: I think what we’ve always seen him do; come out and take the game on. Any time we’ve seen him with his back against the wall, he always stands up for us.
He is vitally important to our team, the way we play. Certainly the way we play at the front up top. For me personally we’ve had some amazing partnerships over the past 12 to 18 months. Hopefully there’s a few more in us.
Q. Just following up on what you kind of said before about those three fast bowlers. You’ve played a lot with them, and they’ve probably never really had a touch-up like that all at the same time. How are they kind of feeling, and what is it about those three players’ character that makes you think they might be on to bat?
MITCHELL MARSH: Yeah, we got jumped in the first 4-overs of that power play. Finn Allen played incredibly well.
I think if you look at all the — they’re three of the best fast bowlers that Australia has ever had, three of the best in the world.
Similarly to what I said about David, all the best players in the world bounce back from whatever setback. That’s a pretty minor setback.
I’m sure they’ll be fired up. They love bowling out here. Fast, bouncy wicket. Hopefully they’ll be fired up and ready to go.