Head coach Jonathan Trott looking to seal perfect group stage record against West Indies

Coach, how satisfied so far the World Cup campaign? Yeah, obviously 3 from three is where we want to be heading into the big game tomorrow night. But we know from here on end it's going to be big games, important games. So to be able to have a group game but and also sort of leading into the Super Eights, knowing that we're already there, it's, it's a nice feeling and it'll be a good test for us tomorrow and our skills and a good preparation for Super Eights. How challenging the West Indies side they are know the very well their condition, how challenging W Indies game. Well, the West Indies side is very dangerous. We saw the way that they played against New Zealand. We saw how they they beat South Africa in a series and have they've certainly been playing a lot of good white ball cricket recently. So we know it's going to be a a great test and a great match tomorrow. And I'm fully expecting to be a good crowd here supporting the West Indies side. And that's what makes World Cups great is playing in front of great, great crowds and a a good venue like this as well. So we're looking forward to it. I'm coach. Speaking of good venues, in last night's match, both both captains or both teams expressed that this was the best pitch that they've played on so far in this tournament. And how excited are you to hear about that and what are your expectations if you've watched last night's match? Well, yeah, I did watch last night's man and you saw some very good cricket shots in the ball travelling, you know, a lot further than it has in the last couple of games, a lot more boundaries. The keeper was certainly taking the ball a lot higher and it was carrying through nicely. So I think that suits both teams and I'm sure the batsman will be licking their lips to get on a wicked where there's a bit of pace and you can get value for your shots. So but with a full understanding of, you know, this might be the best wicket and and then ready for whatever conditions we play on going forward in the Super eights. We obviously in Barbados and Saint Vincent and looking very looking very much forward to that. But at the moment our focus is solely here on this on this match and getting it right and winning. Both teams are are table toppers. It's the clash of the table toppers. You, you yourselves are at the very top of the table. How satisfying is that for you as a coach? I see your smile and it makes me want to smile as well. How great has this World Cup been for you and for the team? Well, I think it's been 3 good games but realising there's a lot more than three games to go obviously tomorrow and then three more in the in the group stage and hopefully beyond. And that's the focus. But we're not, you know, worried about, you know, the two looking too far ahead. The focus, obviously the main goal is to go as far as we can and achieve things that know the Afghanistan team has done before. And we, we, we've taken a step in the right direction so far. But that's all it is. There's a lot more cricket ahead and a lot of good teams to play against. It looks like the team has learned from all of the painful lessons of the past, looking at the previous World Cup. And all of those lessons are coming together in a really good and meaningful way. And you can see it quite tangibly in this World Cup. Well, I think that's the most important thing is learning from previous experiences. And as long as the team's getting better and better. And it's my job as a coach and the the coaching staff to prepare the guys and, and see improvement so far, you know, luckily we've, we've, we've played some good cricket and, and things have gone our way. But there's going to be times, I know this World Cup where it gets tough and we've got to pull through those tough times and those tough little periods of games. And it's not going to be all our way, but I know that this team can, you know, do it fully and, you know, come out victorious. A lot of people have said that there's not a lot to play for. It's almost a dead rubber. But for teams that are playing in a World Cup, there's no such thing as a dead rubber. There's pride is money to play for. There's pride to play for. There's momentum to build as well. What is your motivation? What's the team's motivation going into tomorrow's game? Well, I said to them if you one day when you either, if you look back and you're a youngster and I said you were going to play against the West Indies in Saint Lucia in a World Cup, you would have bitten someone's handle for that opportunity. So don't let this opportunity pass you by just because it's not going to. There's nothing on the line with regards to qualification doesn't mean anything. Pride playing for your country and your nation. That's why every cricketer's here and making sure that we do our selves justice individually and as a group but also people proud that have helped us on this journey to get us here. So there's plenty to play for and then momentum, as you said, going into the Super eights, there's also a lot of hunger in the team and passion and willingness to go all out for the ultimate victory. How do you balance those passionate emotions within the squad with level headed thinking and just making sure that you keep focused on game plans and not allowing the emotions of the moment to get in the way? Well, I, I think the more exposure players have got to the IPL and different franchises where there's, there's pressure all the time in, in this format of the game, I think that'll only do us well and, and serve us well going forward. So I know that the, the players and we had a lot of players at the IPL, every time they come back, I can see a little bit of a difference or a change or every time they go away to a franchise, good and bad changes. It's just about, you know, holding on to those good ones and, you know, making sure that we address things that need to be addressed. So the guys are ready. We just had a really good training session. There was a lot of focus in and I know the the boys take a lot of pride in representing the country. So tomorrow we'll be on it. And finally, just looking at overhead conditions, I know it's tropical conditions, so they kind of chop and change almost at the drop of a hat. How do you plan for not necessarily plan for the weather, but how do you plan and strategize for these kinds of conditions? Well, I think you need to be flexible, you know, very on your feet all the time. You need to be able to adjust very quickly. And I think we've learned from net run rates in the past in the Asia Cup and those sorts of things. So we're well at first in, in, in, in being able to adjust to things now. And I think we certainly have improved in that. But there's always there's always things that crop up in in competitions. And so we've got to be able to whoever just probably, I always feel that whichever team adjusts to as quicker or doesn't let them affect them the most generally comes out victorious. So that's something we're working on all the time. Thanks very much for joining us. Thank you. All done. Thank you.