Aaron Jones on USA's T20 world cup opener against Canada
31/05/2024
Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas, USA
31/05/2024
Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas, USA
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SportsTranscript
00:00 I'll be ready. Aaron Jones, Vice Captain, Team USA. We can take the questions now.
00:09 Hello. Aaron Peterdahl, what excites you the most about being a part of this
00:21 World Cup? I think me growing up as a kid obviously I think majority of cricketers
00:34 want to play a World Cup. World Cup being the highest stage you could play in
00:38 cricket so just being a part of a World Cup is very exciting to me to be honest.
00:44 And obviously we are playing home so and it's the first time a World Cup
00:50 has been in the USA so that's great. Apologies Aaron. It was a really late run-in for the
00:57 USA in preparation for this T20 World Cup, played Canada and then the series
01:02 against Bangladesh winning both. You welcomed a few new boys into the group
01:06 in the last few months as well. What's it been like meshing those guys into the
01:10 team? You said late run-ins. I wouldn't say late run-ins to be honest.
01:15 I think that we've been challenged as well to be honest but definitely we have
01:20 a good squad. I think the guys that came into the team over the last however long
01:25 weeks, they really fit in well and obviously we have a new coach now
01:30 and he's been really good as it relates to team bonding and gelling and stuff so
01:34 the team is on the up and we're very happy to be here. And maybe for some new
01:40 viewers of USA cricket coming into this T20 World Cup, what's in terms of the
01:45 identity and how you guys want to play? If you could describe say the
01:50 brand of USA T20I cricket, how would you describe it? To be honest I'll say
01:56 fearless cricket, positive cricket, smart cricket. I think that's what we're really
02:01 and truly trying to do. We don't want to regret anything. We want to leave
02:06 everything out there on the park and then obviously if we come out on top it's
02:09 great. If we don't come out on top that's how cricket goes sometimes but we don't
02:13 want to regret anything. Could you give us a bit of insight in terms of
02:18 what it's been like being part of US cricket over the last five years with
02:24 MLC coming in, the World Cup being hosted, this stadium being built, kind of how
02:30 much of a change have you witnessed and what's it like to be have been
02:33 part of? It's been good. When I first represented the country obviously like
02:41 the infrastructure around the country was not as good as now. We never used to
02:45 play as much cricket as now either but over the years obviously as you said
02:49 like MLC coming to the country, we have minor league as well, we have various
02:54 different opens around the country which is franchise leagues. I think that we are
03:01 on the up right now as it relates to the amount of cricket we play, as it relates
03:04 to the infrastructure, different fields, a lot more access to turf wickets which
03:08 is very important for us. Definitely some quality players coming in the country
03:13 over the last couple of years which obviously improves the competition in
03:17 the country. So right now I think that things are on the up and we just want to
03:22 keep growing from here. And what's it like to play at this facility, Grand Prairie in
03:25 particular, how does it compare to other kind of venues you've played at? It's
03:31 really good to be honest, especially for the sharp space of time that it was
03:36 built, it's really good. Compared to other places I've played, it's up there with
03:42 the best fields in the world to be honest. And finally I know you're
03:46 born in New York, when the US is going that way for the rest of the tournament
03:50 you're gonna have any friends or family who are gonna be able to come and watch?
03:52 Is that gonna be a special exciting time? Yeah definitely, my family from Barbados
03:58 will be coming to watch some of the games. To be honest with you, my family
04:02 from New York, they're born and raised American so they don't really know much
04:06 about cricket but they'll come and support me as well. Thank you. Could you
04:12 give us a little insight into your very old and long-standing rivalry with
04:16 Canada, which is gonna be on display to the wider world this weekend? As everybody
04:23 knows, USA and Canada played the first international game, so this has been
04:28 something that was going on for years and years. As it relates to the players,
04:32 we're all friends, we all play together against one another for years, so
04:36 everybody's good and cool but as it relates to the fans, it's a bit of a
04:40 rivalry, we all know that. And we enjoy playing against Canada, they enjoy
04:44 playing against us, we know for sure it's gonna be challenging and we're looking
04:47 forward to the challenge for sure.
04:50 When you think back to making your debut for USA in 2018 and how you were brought
04:58 into the USA folds in the Super 50 tournament and then going to Oman for
05:03 Division 3 and then to Namibia in Division 2 to gain ODI status, all the
05:09 way to now to be able to represent USA in a World Cup, what for you was the most
05:15 challenging part of that six-year journey and what for you has been the
05:19 most satisfying or rewarding part of that journey to get to here today?
05:26 The most challenging part I would say was the tournament where we gained ODI status.
05:31 We knew that if we didn't gain ODI status that year, we would have to wait
05:35 another two and a half years to try to get ODI status again, which is not easy.
05:39 So that's probably the most challenging as it relates to that. The most rewarding,
05:48 I guess I could say, I'll probably say just being eligible to play in a World Cup, to
05:56 be honest. As I said, we've been speaking over the last couple years about
06:01 playing in World Cups, about getting test status, about taking USA cricket to
06:05 higher heights and obviously we are playing a World Cup starting tomorrow.
06:09 So that's probably the highest height really and truly over the last couple of
06:14 years, being able to play in a World Cup.
06:18 It'd be remiss not to ask about Nitish Kumar playing against his old
06:24 teammates. Have you had a chance to speak to him about this potential fixture and
06:29 what might occur? No, we really and truly did not talk about playing against
06:35 Canada and stuff to be honest, but he's a very easygoing guy. Obviously he played
06:40 against Canada the last time he played in a mini-series and he scored I think 60
06:44 something or 70 something runs in the game. But yeah, he's been gelling well,
06:48 he's been fitting in well and I think he's looking forward to playing against
06:51 Canada tomorrow.
06:54 What's been the most unique or exciting thing that you've been able to
07:04 experience off the field as part of being the host country for the World Cup?
07:10 Off the field?
07:14 Most unique thing off the field?
07:19 I'm not really sure to be honest. The most unique thing off the field? I mean is
07:24 there anything that you've been able to take part in in the lead-up to this
07:27 tournament that you feel probably would not have been an opportunity that's
07:33 accessible to you if you were not either in the World Cup itself or the host
07:37 country? I would say probably doing like some promotions for the World Cup. I went
07:44 to Florida to do some promotional stuff for the World Cup, so that's probably it.
07:48 Other than that, I'm not really sure to be honest. What was the kind of
07:57 reception you got in Florida at that event? I remember it was, Ali Khan was in
08:02 Texas, you were in Florida at the same time for the kind of the initial launch.
08:05 What was the kind of reception and kind of atmosphere like in terms of getting a
08:10 chance to meet people who might have been exposed to what's happening here
08:15 for the first time? It was good to be honest. I actually knew quite a bit of
08:20 the people that I met there from playing at Florida Stadium many times, but it was
08:28 good. We met some people that obviously don't know much about cricket, some
08:32 American-born or raised people in Miami, and that was good. I really enjoyed
08:36 interacting with them and answering their questions about cricket and how
08:39 long I was playing cricket and about history of cricket in the country and
08:42 stuff like that. In that sense, are you 100% focused on just the matches
08:48 themselves in the build-up to this event or do you have any sense that there is a
08:54 duty or responsibility for you, yourself, or any of the other players in the US
08:58 team to be serving in an ambassadorial type of role to help engage new fans and
09:05 spread the word and help build cricket off the field in that way in America, not
09:09 just on the field? Yeah, I think a bit of both. Obviously, what you do on the field
09:15 is very important, but I also do think that off the field stuff is very
09:19 important as well, especially being a country that don't really know much
09:24 about cricket. We want to get the fans up. We want to get a lot more support from
09:28 the American-born and raised people and I think we could only do that by playing
09:33 good on the field and obviously interacting with the fans or the growing
09:37 fans off the field as well. Hi, Arun Smith Patel from Crickbuzz. So you beat Canada
09:45 4-0 preceding this tournament and you're now playing a home
09:52 World Cup. So you do have the bragging rights on them currently, so
09:56 who do you think is the pressure gonna be more on? You guys in your own backyard
10:02 or Canada who's you guys routed 4-0? To be honest, I mean I don't really
10:09 want to focus on the 4-0 victory in the last series. I mean that's gone
10:14 already and to be honest, the team that we played against in that series
10:19 is not the exact same team we'll be playing against tomorrow to be honest.
10:23 But I think it's a World Cup game, the first World Cup game obviously and
10:27 there's gonna be pressure on both teams and obviously we know the outstanding
10:32 rivalry we have with Canada. So pressure will be on both teams, it's whoever
10:35 handle the pressure best tomorrow to be honest. And T20 demands a lot of
10:41 flexibility in the middle order. So has there been a talk amongst the group
10:46 to kind of be flexible as far as betting positions are concerned after the
10:50 power play? Be it you, be it Corey or be it Nitish? Yeah, we've had our batting meetings and
10:58 batting plans to be honest. It just depends on the situation of the game to be
11:02 honest. I can't really give a set answer right now, obviously it depends on the
11:06 situation of the game but we definitely been talking about some flexibility for
11:09 sure. So have you guys kind of decided on any
11:14 sort of a slogan or a motto for this particular World Cup as a team?
11:19 Something that you know, a line or a statement that kind of drives you guys
11:25 collectively, that pushes you guys collectively? Something that is quintessentially
11:29 American, anything like that? No, not really, not right now.
11:40 Any more questions? Thank you all.
11:46 Thank you.