Scott Edwards and Rob Walter post-match press conference, South Africa vs Netherlands, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023

Netherlands' Scott Edwards and South Africa coach Rob Walter post-match press conference, South Africa vs Netherlands, ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

Netherlands' Scott Edwards post-match press conference transcript

[Reporter:] I think there was some talk that the T20 World Cup – in T20 anything can happen kind of thing, although you won that game properly as well. Now you've got up to win this one properly, how did that happen?

[Scott Edwards:] Yeah, I suppose we go into every game with our plans and our ways that we're going to try and win the game. For us it's just about playing our best brand of cricket and we feel like if we play well enough on the day, we can beat any side.

[Reporter:] You had to take the long route; you got here the hard way through qualifying. This must make it so worthwhile.

[Scott Edwards:] Yeah, absolutely. I think after qualifying we were pretty quick to set our minds to what we wanted to do at this tournament. Yeah, and we weren't coming here just to have fun and enjoy it. We're here to win games of cricket and give ourselves the best chance to make that next stage. So, yeah, South Africa is obviously a very strong side and they'll be close to that semi-final spot. So, yeah, if we want to be amongst it, we've got to beat sides like this.

[Reporter:] What was the talk like when you lost some wickets earlier in the stage and then you played that kind of a knock? So, what was the talk in the middle at that point of time and also after the innings, after your innings ended, what was the chat with the teammates? Like, how to go about the business?

[Scott Edwards:] As a group we pride ourselves on playing total cricket which is guys that are coming in at number 8, 9, 10 have just as much of the ability to put on those partnerships. But out there batting with them, it was just about giving ourselves a chance to go harder later in the innings. And luckily enough, Roelof and Aryan in there played some unbelievable cameos to get us to what we thought was probably a roundabout a par score.

[Reporter:] Max was seen having an A4 in his sleeves and stuff and consulting it every time you took a wicket. Was that sort of like extra intelligence that he had sort of like just a bit of plan you know on what you guys were doing on the field as well?

[Scott Edwards:] Yeah, a little bit of that I think - we obviously do our analysis work before games and yeah suppose secrets out but yeah, we just, we have a couple of points there, just to remind us when we're on the field and different guys come in.

[Reporter:] Yeah, you mentioned about total cricket and also when you were in Bangalore, I think Baz said, we focus a lot on running between wickets and stuff. Today there was a lot of industriousness that you showed. And even in the last ball, you snuck a double when there was no second run. So how did you keep your energy going for so long, for close to three and a half hours you're back?

[Scott Edwards:] Yeah, I think a lot of that goes down to our S&C [strength and conditioning] sort of work that the guys put in. It's a brand of cricket that we want to play. And to be able to play that, guys have got to be fit enough. Most teams around the world are, but that's definitely one of the focus points we have and they're always nice when you can sneak a few runs here and there.

South Africa coach Rob Walter post-match press conference transcript

[Reporter:] Rob, I think those last 10 overs of the first innings, would you agree that that was a game changer and what do you think happened there that did you think the guys looked a bit lacklustre maybe and also the all the extras you guys conceded?

[Rob Walter:] Yeah, you probably right on all counts except the lacklustre part. I think strategically we might have just got a few things wrong. Maybe I've got our ratios a little bit wrong in terms of the slow balls versus hard length and on pace deliveries. It's obviously a lot easier in hindsight to say that. From an extras point of view, there's definitely more extras than we would want to bowl. And at 140 for 7, you're in control of the game really. So, to not be able to close it out at the death is disappointing, of course, and certainly the momentum shifted in the game then. But at the end of the day, we back ourselves still to be able to chase 240 but then we probably you know we got off to a very poor start and they put us on the back foot.

[Reporter:] How does a team who played so well in their first two games you know play like this against a team they really should beat?

[Rob Walter:] I love a good question. I guess that's why we love sport. Four days ago, we played outstandingly well, and then today, not well. So yeah, you can pick apart results like that. Just ultimately, we weren't good enough, specifically at the back end of the innings. And then at the start with the bat, and we put us on the back foot. As I said before the World Cup started, I don't think there's any weak teams in this tournament. And if you're not switched on and you don't win the key moments in the game, you find yourself on the wrong side of the result. We learned that today.

[Reporter:] Obviously, the bowling in the latter stages, perhaps put the guys under pressure and stuff. And I know this is probably not the right phrase, but given the batting as well that was put under pressure, is that sort of like, in hindsight perhaps, a good reality check, given the whole fanfare about the top six, and how potent it has been, it's just sort of like a timely reminder, that not everything is going to be as simple as they made it seem previously.

[Rob Walter:] Yeah, I mean, it takes everyone to win the game and to win a competition so you can't rely on any one suite of your makeup. You've got to do it all and you've got to do it consistently well.

So, we were inconsistent from last game to this game and we got a couple of things wrong that we normally would get right. So, you've got to keep your consistency up. As I said, we can't put our eggs in one basket. It takes batting, bowling, and fielding to win games, not just one pot.

[Reporter:] Do you think bowling is becoming a cause of concern for you guys in this competition because you got hit for some runs against Sri Lanka as well. You posted 400 plus but you got away, got hit for some runs and now in the later stage of this, the innings, you also got hit for some runs. Do you think the bowling is becoming a bit of a concern for you guys?

[Rob Walter:] No, I mean, essentially, I think our bowling won us the game against Australia. The guys were excellent. So, I won't look too deeply into it and start saying there's any concern in one area. As I said, we got some things fundamentally wrong today.

[Reporter:]Those four top order wickets that fell for eight runs in 21 balls what do you put that down to? Was it a lapse of concentration or was it was it skill errors?

[Rob Walter:] I mean getting out in batting comes down to either mental error, a technical error or the bowler's skill. So, you'll always be placing it in one of those. I don't think that they'll all sit in one category I think there was some, there's some good bowling skill and then potentially some mental errors along the way and that's batting you know ultimately if you if you're not sharp in that moment of time you can get on the wrong side of it so yeah, the fact that they happened all together obviously put us on the back foot. That's the most important thing

[Reporter:] We've got some big games coming up now. What do you learn from this that maybe you need to change going into this big stage?

[Rob Walter:] Look, I mean, obviously we'll sit and do a proper dissection of the game, but for me it's really what do you take from this game that makes you better next game? And that's ultimately the question we ask ourselves after every game.

Win or lose, what are the lessons that we take and how do we use those to be better next time round.

To be honest, we could probably chat for quite long. In this instance, there's a lot to learn, both good and bad. Our tail showed us some resilience with a bat, which is great, that we can lean on that at some point in time, hopefully if we need to again. We obviously need to brush up on our death [bowling]. I don't need to point out the obvious, the numbers tell us that. So, the learnings are there and it's just about us being open enough to be able to take them on board and move forward with it.

© ICC