Photo Credit: Sam Navarro
Ireland Men’s T20 international squad returned to training today – albeit wet weather hampered the session – as their preparations begin for the next match against USA on Friday.
Munster Red’s Curtis Campher, 25, who has played 55 times for Ireland in T20Is, was speaking from a wet training session today::
“Yeah, it’s been a nice reset for us to get to Fort Lauderdale and just recharge and rest for a few days. The weather’s been really good on the whole, and we’ve done a few group activities just to keep the spirits and the team bonding up. This is always a key thing during tours and go through some tough times.”
Asked about how he approached his bowling on the much talked-about pitches:
“The pitches have been a massive talking point – in what they supposedly do and don’t do. I think keeping the game plan simple in New York was key and trying to really hammer a hard length – bowl at six to 8 metres and using subtle variations.
“It’s been tough for everyone to bat on, so with the ball it’s just trying to make it tough for the batter – to keep the pressure on.”
How is the feeling in the camp?
“When you lose your first two games, it doesn’t matter what the results are in the rest of the group. You have to win the next two games – and convincingly – to have a chance to get through to the Super 8s. We’re used to fighting uphill battles, so hopefully we can show what we’re made of in the next two games, because we haven’t done that in the first two games.”
You’ve been a key part of fightbacks in the past, notably in Hobart 2022, so, does it help to be able to draw on previous experiences like that when confronting new situations?
“Yeah, I think obviously past experiences always do help you, but at the end of the day, past experiences don’t play the game in front of you. So, it’s nice to draw on those previous experiences, but the next few matches are all about us executing our plans on the day.
“Teams that have done really well at this tournament have a lot of skilled, quality players. So, we need to be disciplined – to take each game at a time, and each moment at a time. We can’t look too far ahead, we need to win the first game before we can begin to think about the second game.”
