Published: Mar 12, 2015, 03:02 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 12, 2015, 03:08 PM (IST)
Ahead of their last pool game against a demoralised English side at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Afghanistan coach Andy Moles spoke to the press. (ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Full Coverage)
Q: Everybody fit and available for this one?
Andy Moles (AM): Yeah, we have all 15 members fit and available. We’ll have a chat this afternoon just to finalise the side, but, yeah, we’re fortunate to have the full group available.
Q: Given England’s situation at the moment, how good a chance have you got of causing the upset of upsets, really?
AM: Well, yeah, England obviously had a tough time. The tournament obviously they’ll want to forget, and we’ll review from it. But from our point of view, we believe that we’ve got a shot in us. We came here expecting to surprise somebody. We nearly got it right with Sri Lanka, and if we can be consistent and do the things well at the right times, I still believe that we have a shot in us. But we’ll have to be at our very best and we’ll need England to be below par. But it’s only a game. Everybody has an equal chance.
Q: How would you sum up the game? You’ve had a great victory at this World Cup already. Would you say that this is the biggest game in Afghanistan’s history?
AM: I think every game they’ve played, honestly, to play Australia in Perth and New Zealand at home, the sides are one and two in this tournament has been tough. We had a difficult or disappointing game against Bangladesh where we didn’t really get off the block with the bats. But as I said, we did well against Sri Lanka. From a difficult position we showed huge character to beat Scotland, and tomorrow what you’ll see from this group is tremendous character and spirit, and if there is an opportunity for us to win the game, we’ll take it.
Q: Can I just ask, I know you want to obviously concentrate on tomorrow. But you know English cricket so well and the counter game. With all the talk of shake-ups and big changes in the offering, how do you sum up the English cricket scene as you like as they try to produce good players?
AM: I’ve not been there for a while. I’ve tried to get into the English scene, but not been successful. I’ve coached everywhere else in the world. But I see really they need to have a look at themselves and there obviously need to be some changes. But I think the big thing is not to rush into anything. They need to take stock, have a look where they are.
I personally hear the criticism to Peter Moores, but as a coach, I feel sorry for him. We can do what we can, but ultimately when they cross the line, the players have to do the job. That’s not to say that Peter’s place won’t come up under scrutiny. But I feel sorry for Peter at the moment. He’s obviously worked hard, and I hear from the players that they feel that they’ve let him and other people down. But it’s a collective thing. The coach doesn’t win, the players don’t win. Everybody has to take collective responsibility, and I’m sure they’ll do that when they review the whole situation.
Q: How good could Afghanistan be if they had all of the advantages of England?
AM: I think it’s worked out well. They have huge passion. I think the one thing that we’ve got that some of the other associate sides don’t have, we’ve got a group of 20 or 25 players from 19 levels to 18 underneath this group. And in that group there are probably I would say eight to ten very, very exciting youngsters of 18 to 22 years of age, three of them being good seamers. Unfortunately, they’re going to push the senior guys, but that’s good, we’ll have some competition.
So how good they can be, we need fixtures. Our facilities are adequate. We’ve got indoor cricket now. We’ve got an academy that could improve, but it’s adequate. So we don’t need so much in the way of new machinery and things like that. What we need are fixtures. Afghanistan is not just a war-torn area. It’s a promising group of cricketers. If we can persuade people to give us the opportunity to play against them in the UAE where we played our home games, then I think that will be the best way that our players can move forward and get better.
Q: I know you touched on this early, but where do you think England are going wrong or the English system is going wrong in not getting the best out of its talented players?
AM: I think there are plenty of people more qualified than me to answer that question. I think the players have just underperformed. What the answer is for that, I don’t know. I’ve not coached in England since I left as a player. Though I looked after teams for one season. But I’ve not worked in England. So my knowledge of the England game as it has progressed is not of great wealth, really. But it just looked to me as the players have let themselves down, and importantly, let the coach down, I think.
Q: What does it mean to Afghanistan to have the chance to play at a famous cricketing cathedral like the SCG. Have any of the players even seen the ground before this week?
AM: Obviously we’ve seen the game on TV. We walked in here saying it’s got to be one that’s next to Lords and the MCG, the best ground they have ever seen. So the guys had a bit of a fielding session last night on the field. We’ve walked around and been in the dressing rooms and been in the nets. So we’ve tried to get used to the facilities and understand and taken some of the history. It is got to be in the top four or five grounds in the world easily. So the guys have tried to just let them take in the atmosphere, and they’re all looking forward to it. How do you feel about it?
Q: For both of you, coming back to the associate nations, kind of tagged and your future of possible World Cups given what you’ve done here. Ireland have done well, and maybe Bangladesh is an inspiration. But how do you sum up. How you’d like to see the associates figure in World Cups in the future?
AM: I think back to when I was playing and that was a long time ago. But Sri Lanka came across and played three-day games against us, and look what difference has it made. We need the opportunity to play more, and I speak on behalf of all of the nations and the ones who are just below us as well. But what we desperately deserve is opportunity.
It’s called the World Cup, so that is getting more information in the world play. Simple message. So hopefully the ICC will go back to their board meeting and re-examine their decision. There’s been a lot of people that have come out in support of getting closer to this format. I mean, Sachin Tendulkar has also voiced his support and there have been numerous people that have said it’s been a good advertisement for the game and development of the game. You can see over the last two or three World Cups by far the associates have acquitted themselves far better in this World Cup. And who is to say they won’t be better next time?
Q: Andy, you mentioned the character of your team and making friends at this World Cup. It’s all looked like a pretty joyous experience for the Afghan players. Can you give a picture of how much fun they’ve been to work with as the campaign draws to a close?
AM: They’ve been great fun. With fun comes frustration at times, because I see the potential in this side or in this group of players. It is enormous. And at times I wonder do they believe how good they can be? Because again, it’s been a tough examination through this competition. The important thing is we take stock and we make sure that we
One thing about the younger players, they look up to the senior players. Culturally that’s how it is in the Afghan nations. They respect their elders. People like Hamid are standing up and the younger will follow. So how good can they be? I honestly believe they could be like Sri Lanka in ten year’s time. But we need to get the opportunity.
Courtesy: ICC
