Ireland Coach Matt Dwyer talks to Cover Point three days before the Under 19 squad depart for Sydney en route to New Zealand for the 2010 World Cup.
Matt Dwyer, courtesy of Joe Curtis
CP: Hi Matt, pleased with the way the preparations have gone?
MD: The preparations have gone fairly well, though we are restricted to the weekends. We’ve had Trent, Alex Cusack, Whitey and Kyle involved so that’s been good. We have laid down fitness regimes and its gone well.
To be honest though it is a disadvantage playing the tournament out of season. We’ve been restricted to indoor nets. It’s not ideal.
CP: What is the news about Graham McDonnell – already down in Sydney?
MD: Well he was carrying an injury when he went there but I believe he it is ok. The reports coming through from his coach down there at Mosman have been good.
CP: Have you a clear idea of what your starting XI is going to be for the World Cup opener against South Africa on Jan 15th?
MD: It would be wrong to say that I have pre-conceived ideas about the starting XI.
I guess as with most teams you have a core of about 8 players who could be fairly confident about their place. But because it’s being played out of season a lot will depend on how the guys are shaping up in training and in the warm-up games. There are plenty of places up for grabs.
By the time we are back, I think all the lads will have had a good opportunity to contribute.
CP: How much will the conditions be a factor?
MD: Well there is a perception about New Zealand that it’s similar to Ireland but the more you look into it it’s not the case.
For instance, the temperatures in Christchurch and Queenstown at the moment are between 25 and 30 degrees. I’d like someone to tell me in which corner of Ireland we get those temperatures!
The heat will be a factor but we have a week in Sydney to get the body clocks right and to acclimatise so it shouldn’t be too bad.
However, I don’t think we’ll be playing on green seaming wickets – I think it’ll be decent first-class pitches.
CP: What is your target for the tournament – to reach the Super 8s or to beat the USA and be competitive in the other matches?
MD: Listen, we’re not going there to be competitive. That’s a given. We qualified for it and when we pull on the green shirt we’re already competing. We’re going there to win.
You can lose a match by 200 runs and turn around and win the next match. It’s not about being competitive. There’s no point in going unless we go there to win.
Our aim will be to topple one of the big guys in our first two matches (South Africa and Australia) and then beat the USA. The USA were the only side to beat us in Canada so we’ll be out to win that one.
The tournament has three phases. The first is the warm-up, then the first three World Cup matches and then either the Super 8 or the Plate.
Our immediate aim is to get as much as we can out of the four warm-up matches.
Then our overall goal is to make the Super 8 stage.
If we don’t make it then we’ll regroup and aim to win the Plate competition – that’s the second goal.
Matt Dwyer in conversation with Liam Rooney
Copyright: Cover Point
