Phil Salt previews England's T20 world cup opener against Scotland
03/06/2024
Kensington Oval, Barbados
03/06/2024
Kensington Oval, Barbados
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00:00 Phil, with Will more likely to be out here, how much is this a homecoming for you?
00:06 It's not as much a homecoming for me as it is CJ and Joffre,
00:09 but it certainly feels very familiar.
00:13 It's somewhere I love playing cricket and I love being here,
00:16 so I'm very glad to be back.
00:18 And then, you happened to be representing England over here as well in a big tournament.
00:22 I guess you were a young lad that victory?
00:24 Yeah, it was.
00:25 I watched the final here in 2010,
00:29 and that was pretty special.
00:30 It's the stuff you dream of as a kid.
00:32 So, to be back here and have the opportunity to play for England in a World Cup
00:37 isn't something I ever thought I'd be doing,
00:38 but it's certainly very special.
00:40 And I guess the full circle then is for you to be at the final again out here in Wembleyshire and get the All-Black for England?
00:48 Yeah, it is.
00:49 There's a bit of a way to go,
00:50 but that's absolutely the goal we're here to win.
00:54 Can I ask you, Phil, what you feel has changed in your game?
00:59 It feels like you've kicked on and found a new gear, hit a new level.
01:03 From where you were, say, a few months ago in West Hampton,
01:07 I was a bit surprised with your IBL contract.
01:11 I figured it was an in-line for one,
01:13 and then you've actually gone to the IBL, picked it up,
01:16 and you're getting more of a performance to watch out here.
01:20 Yes, it's been a combination of things.
01:26 It's not really been any one thing.
01:27 I think the opportunity to gain more experience in international cricket has been
01:32 definitely probably the biggest part of it in my own head.
01:36 I've also had a look at where I'm strong, where I'm not,
01:40 used the analysis, learnt on the coaches and learnt on my own coaches to make those movements in my game.
01:48 So, I can't put my finger on it's been any one thing,
01:51 but I feel like maybe a mindset shift,
01:55 that I want to be the person winning more games for England.
02:00 Have you come to terms, or also come to understand in your own mind,
02:04 that the same way you applied for the IBL, you were right for the Roots contract,
02:07 that when you go out to bat, people are scared of you?
02:12 You like to think so as an opening batter,
02:14 but I feel like the moment you recognise that,
02:19 and you start thinking like, 'I'm the big guy I am',
02:22 I feel like the game's always going to bite you.
02:23 So, for myself, I try not to think about anything like that and keep it one ball at a time.
02:30 The gentleman at the front here?
02:35 Yes, I loved it. I came out here when I was nine or ten.
02:40 I think everything about the place suits me.
02:46 Pretty laid back, a lot of cricket, a lot of sport,
02:50 still got a lot of friends on the island.
02:54 I don't think there's too many people that disagree that living in Barbados is a touch,
03:01 but yes, I loved it.
03:04 You've played for Barbados, tried to take the CBI, but what does it mean to be here in England terms?
03:08 Yes, as I said before, I watched England here, watched them win it,
03:15 and I think every kid in the crowd would have gone,
03:18 'That's going to be me one day', or 'I'd like that to be me one day', but you never believe it.
03:22 So, now to be here in an England shirt,
03:25 with the opportunity to do something special in the next month is incredible, really.
03:31 Mel, go ahead, please.
03:33 I've been wondering, particularly seeing you walk out today, or on Matchday,
03:38 is there any memory from 2010 that really strikes you as something specific you remember from that day?
03:46 What did you enjoy watching?
03:49 Yes, Collie came past up this stand here, I think it's Hall and Griffith,
03:55 I think, where I was sat upstairs watching the final,
03:58 and he came past with the trophy and said, 'Here, I'll touch it while you can'.
04:02 So, I got a touch of the trophy that day,
04:04 and that's the thing that always sticks with me when I think about that day.
04:12 Any more questions?
04:13 Yes, Ali, go ahead.
04:14 How do you and Joss sort of come up with this new IP partnership at Tottenham?
04:19 How do you see it in terms of how it works?
04:23 Contrast the style of the new clubs?
04:27 Yes, we do have different styles.
04:28 I don't think it's a pretty organic partnership in that I've always, in my career, been the aggressor,
04:36 and I suppose I am the aggressor early on in this partnership.
04:40 I feel like we both showcased it pretty well at the Oval the other night.
04:45 I didn't get a flyer, but we sort of hung in, and then Joss went, and then I went, and we dovetailed nicely.
04:54 It's good because we both communicate a lot out there,
04:56 and we realise that when one goes, we feed the strike to the other person.
05:00 So, there's no ego about it.
05:02 It's whoever goes first.
05:04 We just communicate, and it sounds really simple,
05:08 but I've batted with a lot of people and it's not always the case.
05:12 So, it's nice when you have that sort of connection with your partner.
05:15 Did it click straight away, or did it take you a while to get down to it?
05:19 I feel like it probably didn't click straight away.
05:22 It was probably the first year of the 100 when we first opened together,
05:27 but it didn't take long at all.
05:28 We'd taken a couple of games.
05:31 It's actually quite similar to batting with Luke Wright.
05:34 I had a similar role with him at Sussex.
05:36 He liked to take a few balls.
05:39 So, my role at the time was just to get us off to a flyer,
05:42 and that probably stood me in good stead for batting with someone like Joss.
05:48 You've been out more, I guess, than you have been on the pitch.
05:52 You look like a snob.
05:53 You should have not saw those kind of early passes.
05:57 Do you reckon you're able to hit the ball well on there?
05:59 Or is it going to take a bit of a nouse?
06:01 I hope it's a good wicket.
06:05 To be honest, I'm the worst at reading pitches.
06:07 Whatever I think, I'm normally completely wrong.
06:11 So, I hope it's a good wicket.
06:12 But, you know, cricket over here is very different to almost anywhere else in the world.
06:18 Conditions are very different.
06:19 The wind, do you want to bat first and attack you on,
06:22 or chase on something that will be harder to bat on?
06:24 There's so many different decisions here with the way that the wickets play,
06:29 and the breeze, as I mentioned.
06:34 I wish I could predict what it's going to be,
06:36 but I feel like the whole competition is going to take some nouse.
06:41 Phil, go ahead and then finish with Jordan.
06:43 [Inaudible]
06:49 Yeah, I played cricket for Harrison Carter.
06:51 [Inaudible]
06:52 Yeah, she was.
06:53 She was, yeah.
06:54 Yeah.
06:55 [Inaudible]
07:00 Yeah, it was good.
07:01 I remember one of my mates, who I won't mention, got dropped from the team for Hayley,
07:07 because she bowled more wicket-taking deliveries.
07:11 You know, at the time, we were thinking,
07:14 'Oh, he's not going to like this.'
07:16 But then she played, and we all went, 'She should definitely be in the team.'
07:21 So, that was one of my first memories of Hayley.
07:23 But, obviously, what she's gone on to do in her career speaks for itself.
07:25 She's an unbelievable cricketer.
07:27 So, hopefully, I'll cross paths with her at some point in the next month.
07:34 Well, that's not happening.
07:36 Yeah.
07:42 Yeah, it was really good.
07:42 It was, you know, I used to go down there and have a net with a few mates on a Thursday night,
07:49 but then sometimes I'd stay on for the senior training afterwards,
07:53 and I just keep. I didn't really bat very much,
07:55 but I just kept.
07:56 And I think I've had a lot of experiences in Barbados that I don't think I would have been afforded overseas.
08:04 So, you know, for a 13-year-old lad to be netting around people like Kirk Edwards,
08:10 Craig Brathwaite, Jason Holder, all these guys,
08:12 and just being able to talk cricket and learn the game off them and see how they operate,
08:17 you know, very unique experiences, and it definitely stood me in good stead.
08:23 [INAUDIBLE]
08:44 Craig Kieswerter was definitely one.
08:46 I remember watching him.
08:48 To me, he was a bit of an unknown at the time,
08:50 and then he came out and I was in awe of him.
08:55 I thought he was brilliant.
08:56 You know, he took some incredible catches, and the way he played,
09:01 certainly someone I tried to model myself on at the time.
09:05 But, you know, I watched a lot of good cricket here.
09:07 People like Chris Gow, I'm pretty sure Chris Gow got 100 here.
09:11 He got a lot of runs, and that was incredible.
09:14 When I was a kid, anybody you hit the ball hard or kept,
09:19 I'd watch them on YouTube and just try and emulate them.
09:25 [INAUDIBLE]
09:40 I've not really thought about it like that.
09:42 You know, I think it's very different.
09:45 I think we're coming here as defending champions.
09:49 You know, I think it's going to take a lot to win the World Cup.
09:54 I feel like we're capable of doing it, and what you just said there,
09:58 you know, it's going to take guys to do ugly rolls and sort of do it ugly for us to have the results we want out here.
10:05 You talk about the Mike Yardy roll.
10:06 You know, I remember him bowling the hard overs a lot of that competition.
10:12 So, you know, I think whatever happens, if we end up where we want to be,
10:17 it's going to be a real squad effort.
10:20 Brilliant. Cheers, Salty. Thank you.