Are we looking at an unchanged team?
I haven’t seen the wicket yet, so our selection decision and the balance of the side will be down to the wicket and what we think is the most effective against the New Zealand batting line-up.
How is Jason Roy after his ailment? That is a great boost as he’s in terrific form.
He's good. He’s going to be fit. He has, yeah, fantastic form. Him and Jonny at the top of the order in the Indian game did really set the tone for our innings on a wicket that we didn't feel was that good to bat on, so they took us up past a par score which is great. Jonny scoring runs is a huge bonus, you know, and when he’s in good form he's extremely hard to bowl at at the top of the order.
Does it give you a boost that NZ has lost two games?
We haven’t necessarily looked at it like that. The most satisfying thing from the last game from our side is that we went out and played our brand of cricket. We were allowed to do that at the beginning, the way the two guys played. It felt more like the way that we play and the fact that we won doing that is extremely encouraging.
Has it sharpen England the fact they know there is no room for error now?
Two defeats does that (smiling). It was clear that after the Australia game, there was a huge amount of disappointment in the changing room and the fact that we have been able to turn that around, identify where we are at and identify what we need to do in order to progress to the semis, made things clear about how we want to continue to play, which haven't changed, is important and it's been effective.
How would you describe Kane Williamson’s leadership?
Kane is an extremely good leader. I have played with him at Hyderabad. In the changing room, he wasn't a captain at the time I was there, but he is an impressive leader. The way he goes about his business is extremely admirable. He is a quality, quality cricketer who is extremely humble and open to learning all the time and offers his time to anybody as well.
Everybody is saying ‘'it is coming home’. What are you tellingyour boys?
It’s a matter of staying in the moment, identifying what we can do in order to contribute to the next game, which is tomorrow. Today, is getting enough to put yourself in good form for tomorrow, or good head space to try and effectively win a game of cricket.
Is it to fair to say the New Zealand game in the last World Cup was probably rock bottom? Can you reflect on that.
Yeah. It was as close to rock bottom as I’ve been, certainly as a captain, as a player, being beaten off the park like that is humiliating. The influence, I think the influence throughout that whole World Cup on all the other teams around the world was quite extreme. New Zealand proved a point that you can be really good humans and grow the game and play cricket in your own way and win at the same time, which is incredibly eye-opening for a lot of countries around the world. I thought that rubbed off on everybody in the World Cup.
Do you see Guptill as a massive threat and the fact that he is out of form, is it a matter of time before he explodes?
It’s difficult to tell. We don’t identify one particular player in any side. They are a very strong line-up, probably built around Kane at 3 and Ross at 4, obviously two huge players for them. But very destructive players either side of that.
Courtesy: © ICC BusinessCorporation FZ LLC 2018