So Brendon, how are the injuries heading into this Headingley Test?
Both BJ and Corey are doubtful at this stage. We just want to give them one last one chance at training. We still have some good options in the squad, albeit not our first choice options, but I am confident that they will step up for us and do a job. If BJ is ruled out, ‘Ronc’ [Luke Ronchi] will come in and make his Test debut. In terms of Corey, we just need to work out what the best option is.
There was criticism for being too aggressive in the first Test at Lord’s, what do you make of those comments?
I was a little bit surprised, but everyone is entitled to their opinion as to how you try to play a certain style. I feel it is our best opportunity to win Test matches and series. We went down the other day, but I thought we played some pretty good cricket throughout that Test match. Credit to England. They were good enough to run us down.
I make no apologies for how we play the game. We need to play an aggressive and innovative style of cricket. We’ve seen that in the last six series, we’ve been undefeated playing that way, so it gives us our greatest opportunity of success. The more we get comfortable playing like that, the better we will become at it, as well.
How important is the opening stand for the BLACKCAPS?
It is always important to get a good start. I thought the way Anderson and Broad bowled the other day to resign us to 12/3 was some great bowling, especially late in a Test match. They grabbed that initiative. They swung the ball and changed their lengths. They bowled a bit fuller than they did in their first innings, and that is something that we are going to have to factor into our preparation for this Test match. I still think that we have some very good players in this group and scoring 520 in the first innings was testament to that. It’s not panic stations; we just have to smooth out some rough edges. While we were disappointed to lose, I still feel like we played a good Test match at Lord’s. We made over 730 runs and took 20 wickets. On most occasions if you’d put those numbers up, you’d expect to win a Test match.
What did you make of Ben Stokes?
We have had a good chat about him. I think he played two brilliant innings, came out and really grabbed the game by the scruff off the neck at Lord’s. It isn’t easy to do that when you are young in terms of experience in international cricket. To have the confidence to do that is not always an easy thing! We’ve just got to be persistent with our plans. I think our plans were fine, we just didn’t execute them as well as we could have done. When you’re playing someone as explosive as Ben Stokes can be when he’s at his best, you need to be meticulous in the execution of the plans. I expect us to bowl better, but it doesn’t guarantee we will get him out. The same for Alistair Cook and Joe Root. Our plans should be slightly more refined and I expect us to bowl better than we did in the first Test.
Do you think that will be a watershed moment for Test cricket in England, that they will play the game in a more aggressive manner now?
We had a beer with them afterwards and they seemed pretty content. They were complimentary about our contribution, the way we to forced them into a performance. The challenge for England will be, ‘what is their authentic style? What is the style that they want to be known for?’ It’s a challenge we had to go through not too long ago, and it meant coming up with a style that we think is right for us. Time will tell if the performance of England in the last game is the way they want to play going forward, or something that they stumbled upon.
You paid a nice tribute to Alistair Cook; what did you make of his leadership at Lord’s?
Alistair’s got a strong character. To go through what he has been through in terms of off-field issues in the last 12 to 24 months and to still be able to garner a performance under pressure as he did to give his team the ability to push for victory — whether they would have declared or not, I am not sure, but they certainly gave themselves that opportunity. He’s now in that position where he is the leader of the England team. The guys have responded to him.
How hard is it for visiting sides to put in a good performance in English conditions in May?
It can be difficult, but there is some opportunity there, as well. Our team is a better side than other teams I have been involved with coming over here. Our guys are hurting a lot after that last Test match. We felt we did enough to win the Test and there is a steely resolve in our team to turn that around. The beauty of having only three days to turn it around is that the opportunity comes quicker than it normally does. We will play a really good game of cricket.
