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ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021


October 17, 2021


Kyle Coetzer


Muscat , Oman

Oman Cricket Academy Ground

Scotland

Media Conference


Scotland 140/9, Bangladesh 134/7

Q. You probably don't want to be here because guys are celebrating; how is that feeling?

KYLE COETZER: Yeah, a great feeling. It's something we've believed that we can achieve, and obviously it didn't quite go all of our way today, but yeah, it's a special feeling to beat Bangladesh.

Q. The first win against Bangladesh since 2012.

KYLE COETZER: Yeah, so it's not the first time we've beaten them, but we know that their strength and depth amongst their squad, I think they gave us a lesson at the start of the innings with the skills that they put on show. It took a real fighting effort today, and I kept on saying to our guys, we're never out of the game, always believe that we're still in there, we've got a chance.

We were taught a bit of a lesson. We'll go away and learn about some of that, and we'll talk about the conditions again, make sure we're all switched on, and we'll be looking for a more wholesome performance next summer.

Q. Looks like you guys planned everything all right because in terms of bowling performance, in terms of spinners and the fast bowlers, they all had a specific plan, a plan for a specific person. Can you explain to us what was the plan against Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, two experienced players?

KYLE COETZER: Yeah, look, obviously there is a bit of a plan trying to keep out of their hitting zones. We know that they're both extremely dangerous players and very experienced players.

I guess part of the challenge was to try and keep the length away from them, try and spin the ball away from the edge and spin the ball as hard as you can to make sure you can find some sort of variation on that pitch.

That pitch was a good pitch, but the challenge on there is to try and slide the ball underneath the bat sometimes, too, but the variation and changes of pace are really important. That was something we spoke about.

When it came to our seam bowling department, it was about trying to make big changes of pace into the pitch, and that seemed to work, and Bangladesh did exactly the same thing, so it was clear it seemed like that was quite a successful tactic.

Q. Did you try to attack with the big boundary out there? It's like you guys are bowling into the pitch more often so you can challenge their strength.

KYLE COETZER: Yeah, I think we were pretty much in the middle of the ground as far as I'm aware. We do check the boundary sizes, and we were pretty much in the middle. It was an even game when it comes down to that. So yeah, trying to make them hit into the big open spaces on the field but trying to get as much purchase as you can out of the wicket was the key point, and trying to deceive the batsmen in the air on pitches like that.

Q. In general for Scotland cricket, how do you see that win?

KYLE COETZER: Yeah, obviously it's a huge win for us. It's something that we've been planning for a long time. This tournament, look, it's been a long two years pretty much since the qualifying tournament.

Until a month ago we had plays two games of cricket as a group, so there was a lot of planning behind the scenes. There was a lot of guys working hard, and it sometimes seemed that you were working for nothing sometimes because our tours kept on getting canceled. So that was really hard for us to manage.

This for us is almost reaping the rewards of staying -- keeping the faith really in terms of this tournament will come around and we'll be a better team for it when we arrive out here.

There's been a lot of sacrifices from many players. Associate cricket is very hard, and to get the opportunities when we do when we get out here, it's really important to try and take them because otherwise you get brushed aside, and people don't appreciate how hard associate cricket is to try and get to where we are. We've made some good strides. I'm really proud of everyone.

Q. We heard you all very vocal after the end of that game. How much energy will you all draw from that victory?

KYLE COETZER: Yeah, as you can probably tell, my voice is already starting to go. It was noisy out on the field, and it was really hard to try and track down some of those players. You're trying to shout, and the crowd around them, the atmosphere was brilliant really. We'll take a lot of confidence from that today.

Going in against any side like Bangladesh. Bangladesh are an extremely good side, a lot of skills throughout, and going against them and ultimately coming out winners was really important.

But we know that we have to play really well to win any game of T20 cricket. We think there's still some left in the tank for us, some room to improve, and we're going to come up against two good sides still in this tournament. We won't look too far ahead.

The coach came to me and said he'll be the fun police tonight and make sure the guys are well and truly ready and prepared for the next game.

Q. Can I ask you about Chris Greaves' only second ever T20. What did you make of that performance both with ball and with bat?

KYLE COETZER: Well, it was an incredible day for him. It certainly wasn't a surprise for us. We knew he had the ability to do that. He's shown some exciting skills on this tour so far and putting some match-winning innings, match-winning performances already, and it was so nice to see him with the belief that he had when he went out there and took on the Bangladesh bowlers.

He had to chance his arm at times, but they're all shots that we believed that he's capable of playing.

Yeah, really proud of Greaves. He's sacrificed a lot. He was driving and delivering parcels for Amazon not long ago, and now he's out here getting Man of the Match playing against Bangladesh. I'm sure -- I'm not sure he'll appreciate me saying that, but there's a lot of sacrifices from him. So we're all extremely proud of him.

Q. You said Scotland were looking to make a scene; do you think that's the sort of performance that will go a long way to kind of making sure no one underestimates you guys going forward?

KYLE COETZER: Yeah, look, sometimes I don't remember what I say in some of these press conferences, but yeah, we certainly want to make a scene. This is our opportunity. This is our platform to do that.

You know, it was a battle. We didn't quite do it the way we feel that we can do it, but it showed the strength and depth that we have amongst our players and the belief we have amongst our squad. It's certainly a great start to the tournament.

Q. Kyle, just wanted to know what the dressing room was going through when Greaves and Watt were batting in that seventh wicket partnership? What was the atmosphere like when they were batting at that sort of speed? And secondly, you just spoke about what associate cricketers go through. Do you believe wins like this will put some thoughts in the mind of the powers that be or full member nations that teams like Scotland should get a lot more exposure than what they usually do?

KYLE COETZER: Yeah, obviously two questions there, so I'll answer the second one first.

The exposure is really, really important for us and any associate team. You've got to remember when sides like Scotland or Nepal or Malaysia, when they perform and play -- have a good game and win big games of cricket, it drives the cricket within their country. It gives the youngsters aspiration to try and play the game.

When those opportunities have dried up, so to speak, it's very hard to then try and encourage cricket, cricket in that country. You want to try and see as much strong performances, you want to see your country on the TV as often as you possibly can. You want to see them performing as often as you can.

It was the way I grew up. It was the way I watched Scotland as a youngster. It was the way -- one of the reasons why I'm here today seeing Scotland playing in a World Cup. I think it's hugely important, this opportunity to play on the world stage and play against sides like Bangladesh, against quality sides like Bangladesh.

But we also believe that we've got another two quality teams to play against, too, in PNG and Oman. Only earlier today you saw how dangerous Oman could be. And PNG had a fantastic qualifying tournament, finished above us. It swings in roundabouts sometimes.

But seeing the performance from Mark Watt and Chris Greaves with the bat, two guys, lesser known people who have had to take many sacrifices to get to where they are today -- Chris Greaves isn't a contracted player in Scotland. He was certainly someone who was on the fringes, and he put his hand up, he worked extremely hard, he got himself, put himself in the picture to give himself an opportunity.

Going back a month, who would say that he'd even start in one of these games, and he has done, and look at what he's done.

It's just proof in the pudding there that there are some quality players around, whether it be Scotland, Malaysia, Nepal or any team. There's proof in the pudding that there's some quality cricketers around, they just need the platform to show it.

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