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ICC WOMEN'S WORLD T20

November 9, 2018

Heather Knight

Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

Q. Is that part of the thinking behind the selections of Linsey Smith, thinking that Katherine might not be available?
HEATHER KNIGHT: You kind of look at the role that Katherine fills when she does play and you work out the best players to fill out your goals. Bring in the batters and bowlers that can be able to cause trouble at the top of the innings. In terms of batting she's obviously one that scores very quickly. You kind of look at the balance of the team to try to find the best person to fit that role if Katherine wasn't able to go. I thought we did that well.

Q. How have you been able to assess the conditions in the West Indies and Saint Lucia? How do you feel about this island?
HEATHER KNIGHT: We haven't really got to grips with St Lucia because we can't train today. We only got in, not yesterday, the day before. And obviously there's been a lot of rain. But we expected slightly better pitches than we have in the warm-ups. They're a little bit slow. Took a bit of turn. However, India scored nearly 200 in the first game in Guyana. But we've prepared a lot. We're expecting a little bit turn, a little bit slower and a bigger outfield. That's what we've come across so far in the Caribbean.

The figures for the CPL and other series out here show that St Lucia is one of the better pitches in the Caribbean. That's what we've come up against tomorrow and we have to adapt quickly. Rain may play a part. We'll have to be really ready for any sort of situation and ready to switch on quickly and adapt to any conditions we face.

Q. Have you trained specifically for rain, a shorter game, which seems quite likely due to the weather forecast?
HEATHER KNIGHT: You train for many stages of the innings. Tomorrow we'll be ready for all conditions. You train your skills. So you actually have got them in your toolbox so you can use them at any situation.

But, yeah, we're prepared if it might be a rain factor tomorrow. Obviously it's just going to be that final way to get over the line, the final way to win the game, it's going to be really important. And the fact that we're going to have to switch on very quickly and get mentally ready.

Q. Was there any pressure to get it done this time around?
HEATHER KNIGHT: To get what done?

Q. Any pressure to get it done this time around? What's the feeling amongst the camp coming into this competition, of course it's a global event first stand-alone in history pretty much for a team like England?
HEATHER KNIGHT: It's a great thing it's a stand-alone competition. I think in terms of how the competition has been publicized and the vibe we got from the Caribbean so far, it is set up to be a really good tournament. We had 5,000 people at one of our warm-up games. It's amazing. One of the best warm-up games I've been involved in. Hopefully that's a sign that people are going to come out and watch and support and support the teams and support some great cricket. But I think the team is in a great place. I think we're a very different team to the last World Cup in '16 and obviously we come here having had great success the World Cup in England. In T20 cricket we've become a lot more consistent over the years in terms of how we go about things, played exciting cricket. Chased down 190, 180 a few times. Showed some rare glimpses of that. And trying to do it on that world stage, dealing with the pressure of the tournament and dealing with the nature of tournament cricket obviously having to win games in about 50 minutes means every moment counts. Make sure we're feeling ready to play our best cricket.

Q. Fran Wilson coming into the squad. What does she bring to this?
HEATHER KNIGHT: She's played a bit of cricket. She's obviously plays a low middle order sort of role as a batter. The conditions I think will suit out here. She scores quite heavily square of the wicket. We are excited to have her in the side and she will give us a bit extra in the batting department.

Q. Jerome sent your team a message of blessings. And Rahul Dravid has also sent one to the Indian team. Carlos Brathwaite is all over Twitter and Daren Sammy as well as the West Indies men's team. Now obviously men's cricket are really getting behind the women's teams. What do you make of that?
HEATHER KNIGHT: I think it's great that the male players are promoting, obviously with their profile and their following, that's important to the women's game. I think the game needs that. It needs sort of champions to push it forward. And, yeah, hopefully people will turn out and watch it. I think it's the most global the initial women's competition is going to be.

From what I've heard, it's going to be a really exciting one on TV in however many countries and however many audiences. It's going to be much bigger than it's ever been before. As players we have to try to put on a show and play exciting cricket.

Q. The saying in the West Indies is that one bad hour can cost the test match. One bad what can cause lose a T20 international?
HEATHER KNIGHT: Definitely not hour, hour and we would lose. But a bad 10-15 minutes could definitely cost you the game, I think. But T20 cricket ebbs and flows so much in about 10, 15 minutes can cost you. It's about minimising those, I guess, as much as possible and trying to make sure you're putting pressure on the opposition to know that if you have a good 10, 15 minutes you can swing the game.

Q. So, one good 15 minutes can win you a match?
HEATHER KNIGHT: Definitely.

Q. Can you say a little bit about how you see Linsey Smith's role essentially going into the next few games? She's been opening the bowling in the warmups, and now Katherine is obviously out for the count. Can you just say a bit on her role?
HEATHER KNIGHT: The role she's played in the warm-ups and the role she played in the KSL, that's why we picked her. The bowling, essentially at the top of the powerplay and towards the back end as well. She's done very well in the warm-up games, and obviously in the KSL. That's why we picked her. She'll have a role in all those difficult areas.

Q. On the warm-up games, obviously they didn't go your way, but how much do you think the side will be able to take from two close games where you stayed in the game but not being able to go over the line?
HEATHER KNIGHT: Obviously in an ideal world we'd want to be winning those games. But I think in terms of our preparation, for me, those games are better than playing easy games that we win without being challenged or without being tested.

The last 50-over World Cup we had really easy warm-up games and we breezed them. Then we came under a little bit of pressure in our first game and weren't quite ready for it. So, I think the fact we've been tested, we played in front of 5,000 people, felt like real internationals, we've had a taste of the conditions and we know exactly how we need to sharpen up and what areas we need to be better in and to do well and be successful in these conditions. I think they've been amazingly useful.

Q. We talked a lot about adapting to the conditions and the weather. Do you think that will be the most important thing, especially given a pitch that nobody's played on yet, a venue that nobody's been at yet? Is that the number one thing for the team?
HEATHER KNIGHT: I think so. I think it's assessing very quickly with the bat or ball what sort of score we're going to get or what sort of score we want to defend, particularly, obviously, like you said, it's raining now, but no one's played on this wicket yet. There's a number of games here. Might be later on in the group stages there might be more warm wicket, we'll have to adapt again. But Twenty20 is such a quick game, you have to adapt so quickly to stay up with the pace.

Q. in 2009 the England Team were champions of the World in T20 and ODI format, can you emulate that success?
HEATHER KNIGHT: To be honest with you, I'm not looking much farther than tomorrow. It's great to be champions in the World Cup but In tournament cricket you just have to face the next game and try and win that and then hopefully we can make it to Antigua for the semifinals. But definitely not on our radar at the moment in terms of winning.

Q. In the past you've done reasonably well against Sri Lanka?
HEATHER KNIGHT: Yes, we have. We, a couple of years ago, we played a little bit against them. But they've got some good players as well. We'll have to be at the top of our game. We've seen a little bit of Atapattu a lot more playing in KSL and things like that, she is a little bit better than some of the other players.

I think any side can compete in this competition. Like I said earlier, a bad 10, 15 minutes can lose you a game. So we have to make sure we're on it and the girls are really excited to get going tomorrow.

Q. Gareth Breese, we all know him very well?
HEATHER KNIGHT: West Indies legend.

Q. What's been his impact in the dressing room? In Jamaica he was an outstanding captain. He led from the front in Jamaica. What's been his contribution so far to your environment?
HEATHER KNIGHT: His main role with us is a spin coach. And he's been great in terms of helping the spinners particularly with the conditions out here. And he's got a great tactical brain, like I said as well, which he showed when he was captain of Jamaica.

He's really good for me to bounce ideas off in terms of how I would go about things, how he would think tactically against certain players. He's had a great impact and he seems like a God every time we've been here. Everyone, Breesy! Breesy! Calling him out. He's been good to get to know the locals and really good for us obviously to learn about the conditions in the Caribbean.

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