Mark Greatbatch
The BLACKCAPS coach talks about the disappointment of losing, the Test matches and the plan going forward.
On improving after the last performances…
“The last two games have been disappointing there is no doubt about that. The group is very disappointed at losing the series to Australia. we were looking to square the ledger to go 2-2 down here, that’s not the case. We have been beaten by a side that has played better over a longer period of time.”
“Its not all doom and gloom, we have competed with them a bit. The reality is that against Australia you have to compete for 100 overs, not just 50 or 60.”
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“Just come back from a review, batting-wise which is my area, we are doing some good stuff but we are not doing it long enough. We have got to be a bit smarter in the middle. It wasn’t Johnson that upset us yesterday or did the damage, it was fourth and fifth bowlers Hopes and Hauritz and we need to have good intent against them and rotate them rather than them dictating so tomorrow that’s what we will be looking to do against them.”
On taking something out of the Twenty20 matches and ODI series…
“The two Twenty20s and five ODIs is seven matches and we have got an opportunity to beat them tomorrow and three out of seven isn’t good enough but that’s what we want to do to try and get that momentum.”
“Our side is not world class at the moment we are ranked fourth in the world and we are playing number one and if we can get a game off them tomorrow that’s three out of seven, as I said it’s not good enough, but its going towards competing against the number one side in the world more consistently.”
On looking towards the Test matches…
“I think its exciting, the Test series. It’s a great challenge, obviously we are big underdogs we are probably going to have half a dozen that have come into our Test squad that have been playing first class cricket and it’s a great challenge to go up against world number one too, its an area we really want to improve too. It’s a challenge.”
“Test cricket for me is the ultimate, and a lot of players still feel that Test cricket is the great form of the game that you test your abilities over a longer period and they are excited about it.”
On how to make change and get more out of the players…
“Each individual needs to take personal responsibility to get better. So whoever it is, he’s on 50 he needs to get 80 or 100. If its our fifth bowler he goes for 40 instead of 60. So we are looking for individual players to improve their game. It’s a discussion, its honesty, hard but fair.”
