Brendon McCullum is as gracious in defeat as he his aggressive in the middle. Will he change his attitude to the game now that he went for a duck in the first over on such a big occasionIJ No change, he says, explaining how his team needs this attitude, this will to dominate, this fearlessness to be on the top of the table, much the way it was in this World Cup. But “sometimes you’ve got to doff your cap to a better team, and Australia on this big occasion were far ahead of us,” he said without rancour. He also did not want to go into issues like the send-offs the Aussies gave to his batsmen, saying “it’s the right thing to allow Australia to bask in the glory of their success.” Excerpts from his post-Final media presser:
What’s your reaction to tonight’s performance and the overall performance of the team at the World CupIJ
Tonight’s performance, obviously somewhat disappointing, but Australia played better. We gave ourselves that opportunity in this tournament with so much on the line, and ultimately Australia stepped up and they were too good for us on the night. But I’m proud of my guys. I thought the way that we played throughout this tournament, the brand of cricket that we’ve played, the way we’ve entertained people and I guess left nothing out there in terms of the character and attitude on the field, it’s been one hell of a ride and something that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. It would have been great to have got the silverware but it wasn’t meant to be.
Yesterday Michael Clarke retired from the short form game. What about retirements within your sideIJ
First Michael Clarke deserves to bow out a World Cup winner. Sometimes there is a bit of romance in this game, and I think there was one of those occasions tonight. There may be guys within our group who will retire. We’ll let the dust settle on this one, and we certainly won’t look to grab any headlines over the next couple days because they belong to Australia. We’ll let the dust settle. We’ll be gracious in defeat and then we’ll work a plan over the next couple days for some guys who may look to retire. It’s the right thing to allow Australia to bask in the glory of their success.
Can you give a sense of how much it rankles with you the way the game played out tonightIJ
It doesn’t rankle me because they were too good and you’ve got to sometimes acknowledge when a team is better than what you were on the day. Hey, they obviously put us under early pressure, took three early wickets and then we re-gathered. We gave ourselves an opportunity at three for 150, and then they came again at us. All credit to them to be able to grab those key moments. There was times throughout the game I still felt as if we were in it, even 183 on the board, I still felt that we were still a chance and whether that’s my eternal optimism or some realism, as well, about the wicket and the fact that runs were on the board. What were they, 2 for 60IJ There was a couple of things which may have gone our way if we were able to get one or two more, then the game may have panned out differently, but it didn’t.
Was there a pivotal moment for you in the gameIJ
The Powerplay when Ross and Grant had formed a really good partnership out there and got us back in the game, 150 for 3 after 35 overs, most times in this team would firmly believe that we’re capable of 270, 280, if not more. I guess a little bit unlucky for Ross to get out the way he did, and then we saw Australia really bare its teeth and put the hammer down on us. That was probably the pivotal stage.
Any regrets, anything you’d change today, or is that just cricketIJ
I think it’s just cricket. You go out there and try and play as well as you possibly can, and if a team is better than you on the day, then you cop it sweet and you let them enjoy the celebrations.
What do you think sets Australia apart in big gamesIJ Why are they able to win them fairly comfortably every timeIJ
They have got some experience playing in big occasions and maybe that was one of the differences as well. I don’t know. But I think we can’t read too much into it. I think they stepped up on the day. They were better than us and they’ll be drinking the winning champagne.
When Mitchell Starc is bowling as well as he’s bowling, how tough is it to face himIJ
He was a bit too good for me today, that’s for sure. He deserves the man of the tournament. He was outstanding, bowled at good pace, he swung the ball late, and he was incredibly accurate all the way along. You go in with your best laid plans and your ideal. Sometimes a guy is just too good for you, and that’s the beauty of this game.
At the MCG it can swing but it only swings for a little while. Had you thought about just waiting to see that period out before you went at itIJ
I tried to block the one I got out on, and that didn’t work too good, either. But we knew that it would swing for a little while, but it swung in New Zealand and we’ve been able to be productive against swing bowling. We’ve manufactured a really good strike rate in those first 10 overs and it’s been a real strength of ours and something that we looked at and factored into our game plan as an essential part of us being able to be as dominant.
After this loss, will you change your style of playing or will you continue with thisIJ
You don’t change your style of play. For us to develop into the team that we want to be in international cricket, we have to play like that. It’s what gives us our greatest pleasure, as well, and sometimes we’re going to come undone, but for us to compete against the big teams on regular occasions and for us to be able to develop into the team we want to be.